Trailblazing Glory old
by SachiShimazu
Summary: Rated T for reason that I am unsure of violence and swearing as the story progresses. Mostly OC Pokemon story (Professor Rowan will be mentioned occasionally), OC Gym Leaders and other random trainers will be used (and credited). Based in Sinnoh with two of my OCs. I obviously do not own Pokemon :D This is an old version of this story and is currently being re-written.
1. The Adventure Begins

The adventure begins

Within Canalave City, a girl was waking up to her 14th birthday. Her name was Persephone Kawazowe. She had brown hair, reaching to about her shoulders and purple eyes, the same colour as her favourite Pokemon, Cloyster.

The odd thing about this girl was that, even though it was her fourteenth birthday, she was only just about to start her Pokemon journey. Most kids started their journey at the age of 10, but she had waited. She was waiting for her childhood friend, Blaze Ishida, to be ready to go on his journey as well.

Blaze had turned 14 about two months prior. He was an extremely shy person, he struggled talking to anyone that wasn't family or Persephone. He had black hair naturally, but he dyed one side of it red. He also had eyes as blue as a Quilava's back.

He was waiting in his room for his Roselia to wake up. As soon as she woke up, he was planning on calling Persephone and wishing her a happy birthday.

His Roselia, Gertrud, was a bit of a special case. When Blaze was still too young to start his journey, he came across a Roselia who was being harassed by a few Pokemon. He didn't understand why at the time, all he knew was that the Roselia was clearly in pain. He had saved it from the wild Pokemon, taking it back to his own house.

It was there that he learnt the Roselia's secret. Somehow, it had telepathic powers. Blaze was frightened by the discovery, but the Roselia explained it to him. Somehow she had been lost as a Budew. Without anyone to care about her, she almost died alone in the wilds, until a group of psychic types found her and raised her. She seemed to have some sort of psychic potential within her.

She was raised by psychic types. They had taught her things that a Roselia should not have naturally been able to do. They had accepted her, but other wild Pokemon saw her as an anomaly. They bullied her, constantly. Up until the point when Blaze saved her, she felt like she was not wanted by anyone, almost reliving that moment as a Budew when she was lost without a family.

Since then, Gertrud had been Blaze's partner Pokemon. She helped him converse with people, using her telepathy to tell people what Blaze was trying to say.

Blaze looked at his Xtransceiver, Persephone's number highlighted on the screen. Gertrud's had started to flutter open.

_Morning Blaze, you're awake early for once_. Gertrud yawned once before sitting upright.

Blaze rolled his eyes. "You know it is Persephone's birthday today. I've been waiting for an hour for you to wake up sleepyhead."

_You like her, don't you._ The Roselia grinned cheekily at her owner. She was met with a scowl. _Worth it._ She grinned again.

"I hate you sometimes." Blaze picked up his Xtransceiver and called Persephone. On the screen it showed the video of Blaze's face, a white line, and a phone icon with Persephone's name below it.

It was ringing, Persephone hadn't picked up yet. "Maybe she hasn't woken up yet?"

_It is 7 in the morning Blaze_. Gertrud was looking at the Xtransceiver expectantly. Just as the ringing was about to time out, Persephone picked up. The video feed picked up.

"Happy Birthday Persephone." Blaze shouted across the phone.

"Rose" Roselia shouted out. Persephone smiled. Her hair was a mess. She had pretty much just woken up, so she hadn't had any time to get ready.

"Thanks Blaze, and you too Gertrud." Blaze sat down on his bed. Gertrud jumped up onto his shoulder, the little flower Pokemon elbowing her owner's head.

Blaze glared at Gertrud. "Shut up Gertrud! Oh… Uh, so, Persephone, you ready for today?"

Persephone was grinning. "I'm the one who has been waiting for you all this time Blaze. Four years I've been waiting for you to be ready, although when you think about it, ten feels like a weird age to start your journey away from home."

Blaze was nodding in response. "Agreed, I can't believe people actually leave home at the age of ten. They haven't even hit puberty by then." Persephone chuckled.

"Well, anyway, didn't Rowan say something about sending Austin over with a choice of three Pokemon or something today?"

"Oh yea. I haven't seen Austin for a while now. I can't believe your brother is one of Rowan's assistants."

Persephone's older brother had joined Professor Rowan's research lab two years prior. Unlike a lot of the aides, he would take breaks to research from home, which was especially helpful as the Canalave City Library was quite close by.

"Well, I guess we'll see him soon. I'm going to get ready, see you guys at my house soon." Persephone hung up, not giving Blaze a chance to say goodbye.

"Arceus damn it, could she at least have waited for a bit longer." Blaze put his Xtransceiver in his pocket and stood back up, Gertrud still on his shoulder. "Sometime I forget how tiny you are Gertrud, isn't it weird to be standing on my shoulder?"

_One day I'll evolve and you will regret mentioning all these quips about me being small._ Gertrud crossed her arms in frustration, grinning cheekily at the same time.

"You realise you'd still only be around half my height when you evolve." Gertrud stuck out her tongue.

_I could be a really tall Roserade, who knows._ Blaze just rubbed the grass type Pokemon's head.

"You wish Gertrud. Now get out of here, I need to get dressed." The Roselia jumped back onto the bed and walked to the door of Blaze's room. Blaze opened the door for her before getting changed into his everyday clothes.

"Hey Blaze, Gertrud, I just got a call from Austin, he said he was going to be about five minutes." Persephone was waiting out front of her house for Blaze and his Roselia to arrive. She had a cone party hat on, waving at her friends.

_Hey Persephone, good to actually be able to talk. It really sucks that telepathy doesn't work through phones, doesn't it._ Gertrud was looking at Persephone with a slightly sad look.

"Oh, don't worry Gertrud. You're lucky you even have the ability to use telepathy. What did they call it in the manual, an egg move?" Persephone rubbed the Roselia's head playfully.

"No, the egg move was Extrasensory, I guess the psychic powers came as an added bonus." Blaze looked around waiting for Persephone's brother. "Anyway, let's go inside, he has keys, right?" Persephone nodded her response.

Inside, there were streamers thrown over the lights and chairs and purple balloons on the floor. Persephone's mother was in the kitchen cooking breakfast for them and Austin.

_What's your mum cooking Persephone?_ Gertrud looked intently at the kitchen, hoping for food.

"I think it was Oran berry pancakes or something, I wasn't paying attention." Gertrud's eyes lit up. "I almost forgot that those were your favourite as well. I guess we will both enjoy this morning." Gertrud was jumping up and down on Blaze's shoulder.

"Morning Blaze, nice shirt." Persephone's mother looked over to the two of them. "And Gertrud, lovely to see you here as well. I guess you are joining Persephone on her journey then." Blaze and Gertrud nodded in unison.

"It's too bad that my dad is working right now over in Unova. I wish he was here to see me and Persephone off." Blaze leaned against the wall. Persephone's mother yelled at him to get off the wall.

"At least your dad has a reason not to see us off Blaze. My dad is just a heavy sleeper and he sleeps until midday. We'll be gone by then and he would have missed us." Persephone had a slight hint of anger in her voice, but it was concealed enough that Blaze and her mother didn't notice.

Persephone's mother looked back up at the two of them. "Alright you two, pancakes are ready you two, and I've got some smaller ones for Gertrud as well." When she finished the doorbell rang. "And it seems Austin has just arrived. I'm sure he will want to have some food as well."

Austin opened the front door. He didn't dress like most of Rowan's aides, with lab coats and large glasses (most of the time those were for show). He wore a dark green jacket and blue jeans. He also had brown hair like Persephone, but his was much more dishevelled and a lot shorter.

"Hey guys, I'm back." Austin was waving to everyone in the room. "And I bring presents for Persephone and Blaze for their journey."

He put his bag on the round wooden table near the door. He pulled out a semicircular capsule which contained three Pokeballs and a USB, as well as five smaller Pokeballs for both Persephone and Blaze. "Okay, whenever you're rea- Do I smell pancakes?" Everyone nodded at him. "You pancakes are the best mum!"

Austin failed to contain his excitement. It was Persephone's birthday, the breakfast was for her, but Austin had rushed to the kitchen to claim the best pancakes for himself.

"Austin, those are mine!" Persephone was reaching over his shoulder trying to grab the pancakes off of his plate. "It's my birthday, they are mine!"

Blaze just grabbed two plates, putting a few of the medium sized pancakes onto his plate and the small ones onto the other plate for Gertrud. "Eat up girl, today we're going to start our journey."

_You sure you're ready to do this Blaze. I've seen you get a panic attack when meeting new people sometimes._ One of the positives of telepathy was that Gertrud could talk and eat at the same time without being impaired.

Blaze smiled, looking at his Pokemon. "I'm sure as long as you're with me I won't do anything like that." Gertrud covered her mouth with one of her rosy hands and giggled. Persephone and Austin were still fighting in the kitchen over the pancakes. Eventually their mother got tired of it and grabbed the two of them in the ear.

"I don't care if it's Persephone's birthday or not, if you keep fighting over pancakes I'll put all of them in your father's room and lock the door so you can't get in." She let go of them and Austin handed Persephone his plate. They both exchanged apologies before Austin grabbed his own pancakes and everyone sat down to eat.

Once everyone had finished eating, Austin stood up. "Alright. Now that that is done I think it is time for the other celebration for today. Blaze Ishida and Persephone Kawasowe, you're Pokemon journeys start today. First of all, can I see your Poketches, I have something I wish to install onto them." He picked up the USB and waved the two of them over. He connected the USB to a cord which was small enough to connect to the Poketches.

"Devon Corp in Hoenn were kind enough to send us some data about the SearchNav function on their PokeNavs. We decided to take some of the technology and make it similar. The idea is that it allows you to see many different things about any caught Pokemon, which include it's ability and moveset as well as something a lot of really high level trainers like to check called IVs, although the last one is for the really cold-hearted trainers who only care about the best Pokemon."

He called Persephone over and plugged the cord into her Poketch. A small bar appeared on her Poketch's screen showing the download process. While that was happening, Austin took an extra Pokeball out of his bag. "Blaze, you may want to catch Gertrud so that she officially belongs to you. There is a chance that someone may try to catch her if she just walks around on her own, so if you catch her she will-"

Before Austin could finish, Gertrud touched one of her rose hands to the Pokeball's locking mechanism. She was surrounded in a red light and then absorbed within the ball. The ball started shaking with a red light flashing on and off over the lock mechanism. Eventually it made a sound to signal that the capture was complete.

"Stay with you for certain, but I guess she knew that. Blaze, press the lock mechanism and throw the Pokeball." Blaze took Gertrud's Pokeball into the air. The same red light that had sucked Gertrud into the ball released her from the ball and she reappeared onto the floor.

_You think I didn't understand how those things work. I read that manual that Rowan sent Blaze and Persephone when they decided to delay their Pokemon journey Austin._ The Roselia folded her arms and grinned at the boy. Her next message was sent out to everyone. _I know just as much about Pokemon training as Blaze and Persephone do, I could probably start my own journey… Uhh, that sounded better in my head._

"The phrase 'that sounded better in my head' really doesn't work in conjunction with telepathy Gertrud." Austin rubbed the grass type's head and laughed. "Think before you telepathy… Uhh."

_Let me guess, that sounded better in your head?_ Everyone else laughed. Persephone checked her Poketch and switched to the new app. It said 'searching for Pokemon' on it.

"Persephone, move your Poketch in front of Gertrud." She did as her brother said and the display changed.

On screen, a large amount of information was displayed. "That's really confusing to look at."

"Actually, you can cycle through the information using the little arrows on the sides. Here, tap it once and you get general info about the Pokemon." She did as Austin said and the information lessened. The screen now showed a sepia tone picture of a Roselia, a small icon saying Grass/Poison and the Pokedex information on the screen.

"_On extremely rare occasions, a Roselia is said to appear with its flowers in unusual colors. The thorns on this Pokémon's head contain a vicious poison."_

"Oh, then we should stop rubbing you on the head." Persephone frowned at Gertrud.

_Don't worry, I haven't needed it in so long that I have to actually force it to go there if I want it to._ Persephone smiled again, glad that she wasn't going to injure herself but touching her friend.

"Okay, next is the Moveset and ability." Austin tapped on Persephone's Poketch for her. It came up with a list of moves that Gertrud knew as well as her ability.

"So, her moves are Extrasensory, Mega Drain, Poison Sting and Growth. And her ability appears to be Leaf Guard." Persephone looked impressed. "That is pretty cool."

Austin rubbed his chin in thought. "If that's the case, I think you should teach her Sunny Day while she is a Roselia Blaze. Leaf Guard prevents anything like burns or paralysis whilst the sunlight is extremely harsh."

While Persephone was analysing Roselia using her Poketch, Blaze was uploading the app to his own. By the time Persephone had finished her analysis, Blaze's Poketch had been updated. "Alright, so it works the same as that."

Austin nodded and then pointed to the three Pokeballs. "Okay, check what those three are."

Persephone and Blaze pointed their Poketches over each Pokeball individually. The first Pokeball contained a Flabébé. The second Pokeball contained a Pokemon called Shinx. The last one contained a Pokemon called Trapinch.

"Let me just quickly say something. This Shinx is special, it has an ability that is very difficult to find in the wild, although they do seem to be becoming more common to find nowadays." He pressed the button on Persephone's Poketch to show the abilities. "Guts is a rare ability for a Shinx to have."

After talking it over, Persephone and Blaze decided on while one they each wanted. Blaze took the Flabébé, naming it Amy. Persephone took the Shinx, naming it Laxus.

"Alright. You two will also get these five Pokeballs each. You can use these to catch Pokemon, just like with Gertrud." Gertrud smilied, happy that she was able to demonstrate. "I'm sure you already know this, but you throw them at a weakened Pokemon to catch them. Then you can analyse them if you want."

"By the way, I made some cupcakes as well, one for the both of you." Persephone's mother spoke up, feeling a bit forgotten amidst the talk of Pokemon. "They are both chocolate."

Both Blaze and Persephone perked up at the mention of chocolate. "Thanks mum! This birthday is just getting better and better."

Persephone's mother just smiled. "Well, you'd better get going now. Be sure to call home every so often. You too Blaze, your mother will probably worry about you."

"I will. Thanks for the cupcake." Blaze smiled slightly, hoping no one saw it. Austin tapped them on the shoulder.

"You two have better get going now. You guys should probably say hi to Cecil as well, tell him that you got your first Pokemon, or second in your case Blaze."

Persephone and Blaze were already standing at the door. Gertrud was on Blaze's shoulder. Austin quickly called to the Roselia, asking for her to stay behind for a second. Blaze and Persephone headed out the door while Gertrud jumped down onto the floor.

_What did you want Austin?_ Gertrud looked quizzically at the boy.

"Listen, you know about stuff like held items, right? I've got something for you. It's a good item for a Roselia or Roserade." Austin pulled something else out of his bag. It looked like a severed root of a tree. "You know what it is, right?"

_Hmm, I think it was known as a Big Root. Increases all absorbing moves restoration powers by about 30% I think._ Austin nodded and Roselia grinned, acting proud of herself.

"Exactly, I want you to have to Gertrud. I think it would help you on your journey. And one more thing. I've also got a Shiny Stone in here. It's wrapped in cloth so you holding it won't trigger any evolution at the moment. I suggest when you and Blaze agree, you use it to evolve. I can't wait to see you as a Roserade."

_Thanks Austin, that's a great present. I'll give it to Blaze when I catch up to him._ Gertrud wrapped the Big Root around her neck like a scarf then took the cloth-wrapped stone from Austin.

"You take care of Blaze. I think that him and Persephone are going to be great rivals but I don't think that they will be travelling together all the time. He will be relying on you." Gertrud nodded in agreement.

_I know, I'll take care of him. And I hope that when we finally get around to facing Cecil in a gym battle that you'll be there._ Austin picked up the Roselia, who hugged him with her tiny arms.

_I'll be going now. I need to catch up with Blaze_. Austin opened the door for the Roselia. _See ya Austin, and say thanks to your mother for the pancakes for me._ The door shut behind the grass Pokemon and she ran off in the direction she was sure Austin had gone.

**Both Persephone Kawazowe and Blaze Ishida are my own characters. Cecil is a character submitted one of my friends on Lake Valor Deltheor (one of the amazing admins).**

**Cecil Aldhard is the Steel type gym leader, he will be introduced more in the next chapter but the battle won't happen right away. I'm not sure what order the gyms will happen in, but they will not go in the normal order of Sinnoh with the normal typing.**

** Finally, I am willing to do collab battles later as Blaze or Persephone get more Pokemon. I will mostly be following Blaze, but Persephone will also get her chapters every now and again when she is not travelling with Blaze. I also will accept OCs to have as recurring characters or just one time battles.**

** Sorry for the long ending section for the first chapter, just wanted to get some things out of the way.**


	2. First Steps

First Steps

"You finally caught up Gertrud." Persephone crouched down and scratched the Roselia under its chin. "We're going to say hi to Cecil, I think he'd want to know we are finally on our Pokemon journey." She put out her hand for the Roselia and it climbed up.

_I'm a bit frightened to fight him, but at least we won't be facing him now. If we were facing him now we would have no chance._ Gertrud was pouting at the thought of it. _I guess we have to choice_.

"I'm personally looking forward to it. He is the only gym leader who I won't be nervous around since I know him. Everyone else will be a struggle." Blaze already had his head down. Even in his hometown where he knew a lot of people, his nervousness was a massive problem.

Blaze was rubbing his arm, looking at the floor. Gertrud had been lifted up to Blaze's shoulder, which she jumped onto. The Roselia was hugging her trainer, trying to keep him comfortable outside of his comfort zone.

_Don't worry Blaze, I'll be here with you the entire time._ Blaze smiled at Gertrud's support for him. He rubbed the little grass type's head. It was only then that he realised the Roselia had a root wrapped around her neck and a makeshift backpack.

"Gertrud. What's that?" He pointed to the backpack and the root. "When did you get those?"

_Oh, the root was an item that Austin gave to me to hold. I'm sure you know what a big root does_. Persephone and Blaze both nodded. _He gave one to me as a present. The makeshift backpack it to hold this._ Gertrud pulled one of the straps off of her shoulder (or as close to a shoulder as a Roselia could have) and opened the lid to show Blaze.

_I was late catching up cause I was picking up my little backpack from home. Austin also gave me this._ Visible at the bottom of the bag was a Shiny Stone. _I was hoping that we use this before the first gym battle we do, I could become a Roserade._

"That is so cool. I'll make sure that I'm there for that. Me and Blaze discussed the idea of going on our own journeys though, meeting up with each other occasionally to battle or just catch up." Persephone gave a soft smile to Gertrud. "Don't worry though Gertrud, I'll make sure to come and watch stuff like gym battles and the like. Maybe we should part ways after our first gym though."

Gertrud looked at Blaze quizzically. _So, you agreed to this? I would have thought that you would have wanted to stick around with Persephone for your journey._ Gertrud was a bit sad to learn that her friend would be leaving her.

"Well, yea. I guess so. With Persephone there I feel a lot more confident than I usually am, but at least you will still be there." He rubbed the little Roselia's head. "With you by my side, we can still do great things."

Blaze and Persephone were roaming around Canalave City. This would be their last time seeing their home town for a fair while. Persephone was holding back tears at the thought that her hometown. Blaze was trying to have a smile on his face at the idea of starting his journey, but he was saddened leaving his hometown as well.

This must have been why most kids started at ten. They were at least slightly mature, but they didn't get overly homesick and had a great sense of adventure. Blaze and Persephone locked hands and started walking towards Cecil's gym, their last stop before leaving Canalave City.

When they finally reached the gym, they both stood at the doors. They released Amy and Laxus and opened the doors to the gym.

An announcer spoke over a loudspeaker. "Welcome to the Canalave City gym." Cecil looked to the door and was about to introduce himself when he realised who it was.

"Persephone, Blaze, Gertrud. It's good to see the three of you. And happy birthday to you Persephone. His Scizor also made himself noticed. "Sciz."

_Scizor says it's good to see you guys as well._ Gertrud waved at Cecil's Scizor. It waved back at the Roselia.

Cecil looked at Persephone and Blaze, noticing the two new Pokemon they had. "And who are these two?"

Persephone picked up her Shinx. "This little guy is named Laxus. Isn't he cute?" She was smiling, and Cecil looked at the little electric type and smiled. His serious-looking demeanour with the glasses and the scar across his right cheek not really showing that he was quite the encouraging person.

"Well, he looks quite strong. I look forward to one day facing him in battle. And you Blaze?"

The little Flabébé floated around, trying to fight the slight breeze that was in the gym. "This little one is named Amy." Blaze held up his hand to stop his new Pokemon from floating away, but the Flabébé was holding onto its position in the air quite well. For its small little size and lightweight stature, it was quite strong-willed.

"She looks like she is going to grow into quite the strong Pokemon there. I look forward to seeing that little one grow." Cecil drew his sword and slammed the tip onto the ground. Laxus jumped back in surprise, but Amy continued to stare at the gym leader. He chuckled. "She really is a strong Pokemon."

The Flabébé used Fairy Wind to change the direction of the wind towards the steel type gym leader. It stuck out its tongue at the silver haired man, showing that it was not afraid.

"I'm glad to see that you got such a smart Pokemon as your starter Blaze, not to insult you at all Gertrud." The Roselia glared at the gym leader.

"Flabé" The little fairy type shouted at the gym leader.

_Amy is challenging you to a battle. It's actually quite funny, I don't think she understands how tough a gym leader is._ Gertrud grinned at its ability to translate.

"It always amazes me how much a Pokemon can say in just that little bit." Persephone looked towards the little fairy Pokemon, still hovering around Cecil's face. "Anyway, didn't you say you had a challenger today?"

Cecil looked as though he had almost forgotten. "Oh, that's right. He should be coming in a few minutes. You two might want to get going, unless you want to see your first gym battle as a trainer?"

Blaze spoke up for the first time in a while. "So, Canalave is generally the sixth gym that most trainers go through if they are doing the typical route through Sinnoh. You gym leaders use different Pokemon depending on the challenger, don't you?"

Cecil nodded and Blaze's question. "Exactly. If you were to face me without a gym badge you would likely only face three of my Pokemon, with one or two being unevolved forms of my main team that I keep out back.

"And gym leaders have some special tech that allow them to keep more than six Pokemon around depending on challengers as well, right?" Blaze was saying all this more to recap what he had read in the guides to being a Pokemon trainer that Rowan had sent he and Persephone when they didn't become trainers at ten.

Cecil only nodded in return. "Well, I'm sure you guys won't be staying for too long. How about you stay from the first round of the battle?" Blaze and Persephone both agreed to Cecil's offer and went up to the bleachers in the gym.

Cecil whispered into the Flabébe's ear to go sit with Blaze. Amy had still been floating around the gym leader, trying to be as menacing as one of the two smallest Pokemon in the world could be. It pouted before Cecil mentioned to it that they would certainly have a battle one day.

With that, the little fairy type used Fairy Wind again to blow itself over to where Blaze was. "Amy certainly is an impressive little Pokemon Blaze. She is a very good pick." Amy grinned in satisfaction as it came to a stop next to its trainer.

With that, the doors to Cecil's gym opened once again. The same announcer that had spoken when Blaze and Persephone entered the gym. "Welcome challenger." The boy looked about eleven. He had blond hair and a generic yellow top and blue shorts. He was clearly going for the Youngster look.

"Welcome challenger to my gym. My name is Cecil Aldhard. What is your name?" Cecil was putting on his gym leader persona. He was a lot calmer and he was already looking closely at his opponent. He had also adjusted his glasses quickly.

The boy hesitated slightly before saying his name. "My name is Raymond Duval, and I wish to challenge you." Blaze could already tell that the boy was nervous. It didn't seem like this was his first gym battle, but he didn't seem very confident.

"How many gym badges do you currently have Raymond?" Cecil walked over to the wall of the gym while he spoke. He typed in a code and a two trays with six Pokeballs each popped out.

"Uhh, I have three sir." Raymond was trying to be as polite as possible to the gym leader. "And I got a mega bracelet from Rowan recently as well.

"That's good. I wouldn't want my Scizor to miss out on the fun." Cecil looked to his partner Pokemon and nodded. He then got out there Pokeballs from their holders and strapped them to his belt. "And these three should do as the others."

As Cecil walked back towards his position, his silver sword necklace shone, a Scizorite Key Stone glowing inside it. "Well, shall we commence?"

Raymond nodded and the Announcer once again rang through the stadium. "The battle between gym leader Cecil Alhard and Raymond Duval will begin." Cecil looked at the Announcer and then rubbed his forehead in his palm.

"It's Aldhard, not Alhard. One day you will get it right." The Announcer shrugged and then continued.

"This match will consist of four Pokemon against as many as six from the challenger. The Challenger and leader may switch out at any time." Raymond looked shocked at the Announcer's words.

"Hold on, aren't gym leaders supposed to keep their Pokemon in?"

Cecil chuckled slightly. "That's actually quite and old rule. Recently the Pokemon league has decided to abolish that rule, but some other gym leaders keep it in play because they feel it is a better challenge for them. I like this way though."

"Let the battle commence." The Announcer spoke through the microphone. Cecil sent out a Kelfki whilst Raymond sent out a Kadabra.

"Interesting first choice for a steel type. I'm curious as to why you would pick it. I do have a suspicion though." Cecil drew his sword and was about to command his Klefki before Raymond spoke.

"Wait, why is your Klefki a weird colour? They aren't normally yellow are they?" Blaze and Persephone had witnessed this question a few times before. Cecil's Klefki was shiny, meaning it had a special mutation that coloured the Pokemon differently than usual. Cecil never got tired of the question, he generally smiled while he answered.

"It's a special mutation that Pokemon sometimes have. This Klefki is a shiny pokemon, its colouration is slightly different. It doesn't affect its fighting ability though." The Announcer once again spoke.

"The first round is Klefki versus Kadabra." Cecil called his first attack, holding his sword straight out.

"Let's see what this Kadabra's deal is Kelfki, use swagger!" The Kelfki twirled around, moving as if it was trying to intimidate its opponent by showing off. Blaze quickly pulled up his Poketch and analysed the Kadabra for the sake of it. Under ability, it said 'Magic Bounce.'

"So that's why Cecil didn't start out by throwing down spikes like he usually would in this case. He wanted to check if Kadabra's ability was Magic Bounce." Sure enough, the Kadabra didn't look aggravated and confused like the move usually would do. Instead, the effects of Swagger looked like they were affecting Kelfki instead.

"I thought that might have been the case. You're a smart one Raymond. Blaze, Persephone, take notes, always pay attention to Pokemon abilities." Cecil was trying to act as a teacher while fighting, one of Cecil's signature traits as a leader.

Raymond grinned at Cecil. "So, you did see through my little trick. I wouldn't expect any less from a gym leader."

Cecil smiled at the compliment his challenger just paid him. "This, though, is why I embrace the switching out rule. Klefki, your work for now is done." He returned the Klefki to its Pokeball and instead sent out a Pokemon comprised of two swords. There was a pink gooey substance that was on the shielded portion of the sheath.

"Doublade, you're up now." The sword Pokemon's eyes looked as happy as they possibly could. Raymond's grin turned slightly villainous now.

"And you'd think that I wouldn't come into a steal type gym prepared? Kadabra, Shadow Ball now." The yellow fox-like Pokemon conjured a shadowy blob in front of itself and launched it at the Doublade.

Cecil looked at the challenger. Overconfidence was the worst enemy of a challenger. "One thing that I'm not sure you've learnt yet, but Gym Leaders are prepared for most circumstances. Doublade, Shadow Sneak now. Dodge the Shadow Ball."

The sword Pokemon sunk into the floor and became one with the shadows. And went launching towards the Kadabra. Raymond's grin suddenly turned to a flustered shock. The Doublade rose out of the ground and slashed at Kadabra.

The Kadabra went launching across the gym with a large amount of force. Cecil then followed up with another attack. "Alright, follow up with Iron Head." The Doublade charged at the Kadabra, a gleam going across the Doublade and an extra layer of iron coated the Doublade as it rammed into its foe.

The Kadabra was up against the wall, it was extremely scratched up. Blaze checked his Poketch. A little bar on the moves and abilities screen was almost empty. He assumed that it implied how much fighting ability the Pokemon had left. Kadabra was not going to last much longer. Raymond was likely going to pull a last move in desperation.

"Kadabra, use thunderbolt now!" Raymond shouted, desperation quite noticeable in his voice. With the sword Pokemon so close and its ability No Guard almost preventing dodging unless another instance like Shadow Sneak came into play, Doublade was hit point blank by the lightning that Kadabra created in front of itself.

However, Doublade's HP did not reduce by a large amount. Blaze recognized the pink substance that was attached to the Doublade. It was called an Evolite, and it raised the defences of Pokemon that were yet to evolve. The ghost swords had barely taken a scratch from the bolt of electricity.

"Listen, Raymond, if you get this desperate when one of your strategies fall apart, you need to learn how a Pokemon battle truly works. Plus, get to know a lot more Pokemon a lot better, as well as items, because some of us gym leaders do use them." Cecil was trying to be more of a teacher than condescending, but to the challenger it came across as scolding.

"Doublade, lets finish off this Kadabra with another Iron Head." The Doublade charged at the Kadabra, Iron once again forming a layer over the Pokemon's steel body. Doublade slammed its foe, who fell unconscious temporarily. It woke up seconds later, but in a Pokemon battle that was what was considered a defeat.

"Kadabra is unable to battle." Raymond made a sound akin to growling. He had not been handling Kadabra's defeat well.

"Alright, Blaze, Persephone, you two should probably get going now." Cecil called out to them, taking a short break from his attention. The gym leader's Scizor also looked and waved at the two new Pokemon trainers.

"See you Cecil. The next time we meet, we will likely be foes." Persephone cheerily spoke to the gym leader. Her and Blaze walked out the door. Amy and Laxus had been returned to their Pokeballs, Gertrud was on Blaze's shoulder, waving goodbye to Cecil.

"Arceus damn it that was intense. I don't think I've ever paid so much attention to a gym battle before. I'm not too sure about this gym battle thing." Blaze looked at the ground again, nervous being out in the open.

_Don't worry, you're both older and the kid honestly looked like he only had one strategy to win that battle. He couldn't adapt. You two are better than that._ Gertrud looked at both Blaze and Persephone, smiling.

Both Blaze and Persephone saw that the paved road of Canalave City was coming to an end, indicating that this was the beginning of a Route between cities. For anyone who wasn't paying as much attention, there was also a large sign saying 'Route 218' near the edge of the paved road.

"Hey Blaze, What gym do you think we should head for first? The closest two would likely be Oreburgh City and Eterna City. I've heard some weird things about the Eterna gym leader, but I don't want to face dark types straight off the bat…" Persephone was walking casually along. She had let Laxus out of his Pokeball as well, who was bounding along beside his new trainer.

Blaze looked up to the sky and sighed. "I think we should go with the one that doesn't throw you off what you are comfortable with. Let's go with Eterna City. Plus, neither of us currently have any major advantage over that gym." Gertrud pushed Blaze's cheek.

_No clear advantage Blaze? Please don't forget my secondary typing is Poison._ Persephone laughed at Gertrud's mock hurt tone. Blaze just rolled his eyes. _And I'll be a Roserade during that gym fight, so I'll be even more powerful._

Persephone grabbed Blaze's arm quickly as they edge of Canalave City. Blaze stopped in his tracks, surprised by Persephone. "Blaze, Gertrud, don't you think that we should all step over the border of Canalave City together?" Laxus was somewhat singing (or at least as close to singing as repeating different lengths of Shinx could be) a little tune, not quite paying attention to what Persephone was doing. She reached down and grabbed the little electric type, moving it back in line with the rest of them.

"Sure, I guess it's our first steps outside the city as a Pokemon trainer. Now that I think about it, I hope the ferry is working today, otherwise we will be stuck." Gertrud pushed Blaze's cheek again, trying to get him to shut up.

_Blaze, let me off your shoulder. I'd like to walk across with you guys._ Gertrud smiled as Blaze did what she suggested. She looked at both Persephone and Blaze, then spoke again. _Persephone, whenever you're ready._

Persephone nodded. "Let's go in 3." Gertrud, Blaze and Persephone all looked straight ahead. "2." They all got ready to step over the line. "1." The three of them lifted up their right leg. "Go" Gertrud's small size meant she had to run to cross the line at the same time as Blaze and Persephone, but they all stepped over the boundary of Canalave City together. Laxus was already a metre in front of the group, confused as to what its owner was doing.

"Oi, Laxus you little scatterbrain, get back over here." The little lion like Pokemon came bounding back over to its owner. "I can already see you're going to be a problem Pokemon."

"Shiii" Laxus cried out having absolutely no idea what Persephone was saying. It struggled to understand human speech unless it was related to an attack move.

"Yea, so it is running today?" Blaze was speaking to someone over his Xtransceiver. "Good, it would be quite awkward for Persephone and me if it wasn't running today." The Xtransceiver was on 'Audio Only' mode. "Alright, we should be over there in half an hour. See ya then."

Persephone looked at Blaze, her face asking who he was talking to.

"That was the ferry guy, I was just making sure that we wouldn't be stuck here for the rest of the day. It is running today, but maybe I should have told him that we would be there later than 30 minutes." Blaze looked at Gertrud, who was now back on his shoulder. Gertrud took the signal and slapped him as hard as she could, but it didn't do much given that a Roselia's hands were roses.

_You know, it really doesn't work Blaze. No matter how much you hit someone with a rose, the flower doesn't hurt them._ Persephone laughed and Blaze once again rolled his eyes. _Your logic is highly flawed Blaze_. Blaze winced as a result of the little Roselia's words. Assaults on his logic were his weakness.

In the nearby bushes, there was a slight rustling sound. A yellow snout was poking out from the nearby tall grass. Persephone pushed Laxus over to investigate the little snout. It roared at the grass and a shrew-like Pokemon jumped out. It was Yellow with lines like cracked, dried earth and a cream tummy. It had black eyes, tiny arms and legs with little claws, and a tail.

"That's a Sandshrew, right?" Persephone stared at the Pokemon. She had read up on a lot about different Pokemon, but sometimes the exact names of Pokemon escaped her. With 718 known Pokemon and counting, it was difficult to remember every single Pokemon's name.

As if to confirm Persephone's thoughts, the Sandshrew spoke. "Shrew." Persephone jumped when it spoke, not out of fear but out of joy. Her guess had been correct.

"Blaze, I'm going to battle this little guy. You already have two Pokemon, I may as well catch up. Laxus, you ready to battle." At the word battle the Shinx's ears perked up. It ran to its trainer's side and grinned mischievously.

"The Poketch says that his moves are Spark, Charge, Roar and Tackle." Blaze read through Laxus' attacks. "I guess now is a good time to check as any. Too bad we can't check the Sandshrew's moves."

"Alright, Laxus, use Tackle." The little lion charged at the Sandshrew. The Sandshrew went flying into the grass. It stuck its head back out of the grass. It jumped out of the grass and curled up into a ball. Its body shone for a second, its skin seeming to harden. As it did this it started rolling towards Laxus.

"Defence Curl and Rollout. A deadly combo. Persephone, Laxus needs to dodge or use Roar, but you definitely want to get Laxus to dodge it." Blaze was calling out strategies to his friend, his brain already working overtime.

Persephone yelled for Laxus to dodge, but it instead rushed at the Sandshrew while coating itself with electricity. "Laxus, get out of the damn way!" It kept charging towards the Sandshrew. Laxus was struck head on and was sent flying. Sandshrew was completely unshaken.

Laxus got up and charged at the Sandshrew. It was trying to Tackle it again. "Arceus damn it Laxus, listen to me." Persephone was yelling at her Pokemon to stop. It continued running and slammed right into the opposing Pokemon.

"Persephone, this has gone on for long enough. I suggest you try to catch it now." Blaze shouted out to his friend. She broke from her haze and returned Laxus to its Pokeball.

"Alright, Sandshrew, you're mine now." Persephone threw the Pokeball at Sandshrew. A red light surrounded the Pokemon and was absorbed into the capsule. It dropped to the ground and started shaking rapidly. A red light flickered on and off, eventually ending with a dinging sound. The capture had been successful.

"Alright, my first successful capture!" Persephone grabbed the Pokeball that contained the Sandshrew. "Now what should I name you?" After thinking for a few seconds she came up with something. "How about Spiny."

Blaze looked at her confused. "How is that relevant in any way to a Sandshrew?"

"It's not, but it is relevant to a Sandslash." She smiled and threw out her newly acquired Sandshrew. "Hey little guy, I'm going to call you Spiny." The little Sandshrew looked at its trainer.

"Shrew." The little Sandshrew spoke.

_She says she likes it. Sandshrews aren't very emotive_. Gertrud translated Sandshrew's speech from Blaze and Persephone.

"What am I going to do when I'm not travelling with you anymore Gertrud." Persephone laughed before returning Spiny to his Pokeball.

_You could catch a psychic type._ Gertrud tried to sarcastically give some advice. _Oh, and Spiny is a girl._

"Oh… Well, let's get going to the ferry." Persephone started running, leaving Blaze to catch up.

"Damn it Persephone." Blaze started running after Persephone… and hoping that he didn't miss the ferry.


	3. The Jubilant City

The Jubilant City

"One minute to spare Persephone, how freaking lucky were we!" Blaze and Persephone were alone on the ferry today. Some days it was really busy, but it had been a quiet weekend according to the man running the service.

"It's great to have the ferry all to ourselves on the first day of our journey, and it would be even better if all the Pokemon got along." Spiny and Laxus were both glaring at each other. Laxus was growling at the Sandshrew, not wanting to play nice with it. Spiny was just trying not to lose its confidence against the Shinx.

"It's just your Pokemon Persephone. They're quite free-spirited." Blaze chuckled slightly watching the show between the two Pokemon. Amy was flying around the ferry carefree while Gertrud was lazily laying on a separate couch nearby.

_Laxus says that he wants to beat Spiny in a one on one battle. Spiny doesn't want to fight her new comrade. It's even more entertaining if you knew what they were saying, although there are a few choice phrases that you probably don't want to hear._ The little grass type jumped onto the couch back and stuck her head over the top. Just as she did, Amy came crashing into her, unable to change direction fast enough.

"Flabé?" The Flabébé looked at Gertrud apologetically. At least they had become friends in their short time together. Gertrud held onto the Flabébé's flower in one rose and Amy landed into her other rose hand.

_She's quite headstrong, but she's quite a sweet Pokemon. I can't wait to see what she is like in battle. I'm sure she'll be amazing. _Gertrud put Amy back on her flower and set her back off on her way, the Flabébé constantly using Fairy Wind to move itself around.

"She's quite fun to watch." Persephone giggled as Amy flew past right next to her cheek. "I wonder what other moves she knows. Persephone held up her Poketch to the little flower fairy. "Okay, it says that she also knows Vine Whip and Lucky Chant. I'm surprised that Amy isn't part grass type, Flabébés look kinda grassy and they have a lot of grass attacks."

Blaze just shrugged. "Don't question nature, that's just what happens." Amy came up to him and rubbed her cheek against his. Blaze rubbed her head with his index finger, to which Amy smiled with glee. "You're going to be really strong one day. I can just tell, you and Gertrud will be amazing members of this team." Gertrud hung off the back of her chair with her arms folded, grinning happily.

"I wish my Pokemon would get along as well as Amy and Gertrud do." Persephone watched her Pokemon continue to bicker. It was irritating that they just couldn't get along. Spiny was starting to get fed up with Laxus and threw some sand into the Shinx's face. The Shinx went to tackle Spiny and missed as Spiny stepped out of the way. "Laxus is too reckless for his own good. He's going to be a lot to handle."

_He's young, he'll learn it time… I think. He seems like a bit of an idiot._ Persephone sighed.

"Gertrud, I didn't need to know that. Now I'm even more worried about Laxus." She watched Laxus and Spiny continuing to fight each other. She was tempted to bring one of them back into its Pokeball, but the longer they were around each other, the more likely they would get along… Right?

"_Attention passengers, we will be arriving off the coast of Jubilife City in two minutes. Make sure all valuables and Pokemon are in Pokeballs to ensure that they are safe._" The announcement came out of the loudspeaker. Persephone stared at Spiny and Laxus. The Sandshrew was curious about the announcement, looking back at Persephone. Laxus was still just growling.

"Alright, back in the Pokeballs you go." Spiny had a bit of a happy look on her face. Laxus didn't even realise he was being called back. Both had returned to their Pokeballs at the same time. "What am I going to do with you two?"

Amy stopped herself in front of Blaze and stared at him, her eyes trying to convince him to let her stay out of her Pokeball. Blaze rolled his eyes. "I'll let you out when we actually get to Jubilife. I don't want you to get hurt on the way there." The Flabébé had a forlorn look on her face, but was smiling slightly being able to come out soon.

"Aww, don't worry girl." Blaze was rubbing the fairy Pokemon's head with one of his fingers, Amy was laughing. "Alright, in you go." Amy reached out and touched the Pokeball. She was covered in a red light which was then sucked inside the ball.

_I'm almost starting to get jealous of how much you take care of Amy. She is a sweet little thing though, I understand why you dote over her._ Roselia was now sitting on the back edge of her chair, waiting for the boat to stop. _Anyway, are we going straight to Eterna or are we sticking around in Jubilife for a while?_

"I think we'll check out the Battle Tent in Jubilife before we move on to Eterna. I want to see how Amy holds up in a fight." Blaze held up the Flabébé's Pokeball and tossed it up and down a few times.

"And I need to see how Spiny and Laxus do in a trainer battle rather than fighting each other." Persephone was holding both Pokeballs, looking at them with a saddened expression.

_Blaze, be glad that we don't feel movement while we are in those things, Amy would have a massive headache otherwise._ Gertrud snickered, covering her mouth with one of her rose hands.

"_We have arrived on the outskirts of Jubilife, please be prepared to exit the ferry._" The announcer spoke once again. Gertrud climbed onto Blaze's hand, then jumped up onto his shoulder. Persephone strapped Laxus and Spiny's Pokeballs to her belt.

"Well, I guess we're off." Persephone and Blaze both exited the ferry, with the city of Jubilife looming in front of them. They had been here before plenty of times. However, this time it was their first time going in as Pokemon trainers. It was their first city that they would enter as Pokemon trainers.

"Blaze, are you ready for this?" Persephone had her hands wrapped behind her neck, her voice shaking ever so slightly. "Oh Arceus, why am I so nervous. Jubilife City isn't that scary." She looked down for a second. Gertrud jumped over from Blaze's shoulder onto Persephone's. She hugged the girl, albeit her arms didn't stretch around very much.

_Blaze is feeling the same way… Although, he is often extremely nervous in public. You've got Pokemon, you are on a journey, away from home. This town means that you won't be returning home for quite a while._ Persephone looked at Gertrud.

"Thank you for the encouragement Gertrud." She spoke as sarcastically as possible. Blaze looked over for a second, then his gaze directed itself straight back to the ground. "And now Blaze is worried even more than usual."

"Not helping." Blaze whispered under his breath. Persephone and Gertrud didn't quite hear what he said, they ignored it.

A large amount of the walk was an awkward silence. Persephone was walking with her head held high, hands behind her neck, although she wasn't feeling as confident as she looked. Blaze on the other hand was as nervous as he appeared, one arm rubbing the other as if he was cold, head hung down.

When they did finally arrive, they both just stood there for a minute.

Persephone broke the silence. "So… Blaze… Are you ready? We really are doing this. We're going to be on a full on Pokemon journey." Blaze smirked and finally looked up for the first time in a few minutes.

"Weren't you the one who had to convince me to come, or were you not actually ready either? I guess this is why kids often go off at ten. They still feel an attachment to their homes, but they don't get completely homesick." Blaze snickered.

"Yea, but the maturity of a ten year old isn't that amazing. Have you heard all those stories people have written about those ten year olds where they take down all sorts of evil organizations and stuff. There was that story about the boy and Team Galactic. I could never do that sort of thing."

_So, are we going in or are we just going to stand here for the rest of the day?_ Gertrud looked at the two of them, waiting impatiently for the two of them.

Both of them laughed at their own nervousness. They looked at each other. "Blaze, together, just like that moment when we left Canalave." Persephone smiled.

The boy nodded. "Yea, let's." He grabbed Perephone's hand and looked straight ahead. Gertrud walked down and stood on the clasp between their hands.

"3, 2, 1." They both stepped forward into the town.

Blaze had been holding in a breath. He exhaled with relief, Peresphone giggling at the sight. "Well, there really is no turning back now. We're really doing this. No regrets, 'ey Persephone?"

"None at all. We're really doing it." She looked around before looking at Blaze. "We're you going to let Amy out?"

"Oh yea." He sent the little Flabébé out of its Pokeball. "Hey girl, sorry it took too long." The flower fairy twirled around happily.

"Fla, Flabé" Amy was moving around happily, using the Fairy Wind to turn around quickly. She was looking around the city, as she had never been very far away from Rowan's laboratory in her life.

"Well, someone seems to be enjoying her time." Blaze was smiling, a bit less nervous with both Amy and Gertrud around. When they did pass by some people though, he suddenly became anxious again. Gertrud stood on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

_Blaze, come on. You've got Persephone and me with you, not to mention Amy. Look at that little bundle of energy. She's buzzing around like a little Combee._ Blaze laughed at Gertrud's analogy, and was quickly grateful that there was no one around. Most of Gertrud's telepathic speech would go directly to Persephone and Blaze, although sometimes she would be selective in which one she talked to. There were other people who naturally heard the communications, like Blaze and Persephone's parents and Cecil, but otherwise Gertrud had to actively make other people hear it.

"So, the Pokemon Centre and then the Battle Tent. I think that Spiny and Laxus will need a bit of healing." Persephone had grabbed one of the two Pokeballs from her belt and looked at it, worried about her Pokemon. "I wish these two would get along."

"I agree with you on Laxus and Spiny, but I'm pretty sure they heal up you Pokemon before a match in the Battle Tent, so you don't really have to worry about the Pokemon Centre." Blaze spoke, head still down and in an almost incomprehensible mumble that only Persephone could decipher.

"One of these days you are going to have to stop being so nervous in public. Honestly, you are going to end up as one of those… what are they called… hikkikomori I keep reading about." Persephone stopped in front of Blaze and ducked down so she could see his face. "You won't get anywhere with your head pointed at the ground all the time."

"That's why Gertrud is so important to me, and you as well. Both of you pull me along, you guys interpret the world for me." Blaze couldn't stand when Persephone got philosophical with him, but he kind of appreciated it.

_Daww, isn't that sweet. Now, if you two lovebirds could get moving, people are staring._ Gertrud's little joke got Blaze blushing like crazy. Both Persephone and Gertrud giggled, with Amy floating in confusing about what was going on. _Still, I think that we should get to the Battle Tent._

Blaze and Persephone both nodded their heads in unison. They continued on, Blaze looking up for a second to check if Gertrud was telling the truth. Persephone and Gertrud giggled again, there wasn't anyone around, or at least anyone who was staring at them.

"Alright you two pranksters, let's get moving."

It didn't take too long to reach the Battle Tent. While Jublife was quite an expansive city, it was easy to find your way around quickly, and if not there were always taxis. It only took about fifteen minutes to reach on foot.

"Alright, we're here. Now, let's sign up. There should be plenty of people, but it might take a while to find some newbi-"

A girl, probably in her late teens with a Zorua on her shoulder walked past. Blaze was a bit frightened by her appearance, she was quite tall, with white hair and a creepy black suit on.

"Zufi, you ready to challenge the Tent again today? I'm sure Sienna will do much better today. One day we will talk Zen's place as the dark type gym leader." The girl was speaking to the Zorua.

Blaze was suddenly afraid of entering the Battle Tent. These were the kinds of people he liked to avoid. He didn't like strangers, as he could not tell what they were like, but people who went out of their way to make themselves look intimidating put him on edge.

He hoped that he wouldn't have to battle her, but she looked a lot older than a starter trainer. Surely she wouldn't have pokemon at the same skill level as him.

Surely…

"Blaze, you coming soon? Come on, we should sign up right away." Persephone was already by the entrance. The tall girl had walked right past her, Persephone only glancing at the girl quickly before averting her attention back to Blaze.

"Coming…" Blaze spoke unenthusiastically. He didn't want to have to pass by that girl again. Gertrud tried to get his attention by tapping him with one of her petal hands.

_Is something the matter? We can just watch instead of battling if you want._ Gertrud was worried. Blaze's Flabébé on the other hand was floating right next to Persephone, eagerly awaiting its trainer.

"Oh… It's nothing Gertrud… Don't worry about it." Blaze walked into the Battle Tent behind Persephone.

To call the building a tent was a bit of an understatement on the building itself. It had started out as a concept in Hoenn, where it was indeed a tent that some people had set up with certain rules ad an idea to have a place where trainers could battle without any thought of paying their competition or worrying about rushing to heal Pokemon.

Soon after the idea had spread to Unova and Sinnoh, but they created a facility similar to a Contest arena where trainers could watch battles, wait in a lobby for other trainers, and compete against other trainers of similar ability. It took off fast and similar buildings were built in most towns around both regions.

"Alright, so, where are we going to go? We don't have any badges, I'm pretty sure that is one of the things you need to put in sign-ups." Persephone was looking around a bit confused. She had been in the facility before, but only to watch other people battle, never to battle others.

It was as if the white haired girl was just there to show them where they were supposed to go. In the corner of his vision, Blaze saw her tapping on a screen similar to the phone boxes they used to have installed around Pokemon centres before Xtransceivers became popular. Then he saw her place two Pokeballs into a tray containing six round indents. A fanned out red beam scanned them and she took them out before walking away.

"Well, I'd assume that is where challengers sign up for this." Blaze pointed to where the girl had just been. There was no way that he would be facing her, he didn't have to worry.

Both Blaze and Persephone walked up to individual screens. Information was displayed on the screen to describe the Battle Tent, with an icon in the top left saying "Signups". Blaze tapped it and some text boxes came on screen with areas to fill out details.

First question, Name. Blaze entered his full name, Blaze Ishida, with the onscreen keyboard and clicked the Next button. Second question was gender and age. He tapped male and then typed 14 before clicking Next. Why would they care about his age?

The next few questions were more on Pokemon training. The first was a drop down option box next to a question saying "How long was it since you started your Pokemon journey?" Thank god there was an option that said less than a week, otherwise it would have been awkward for Blaze. The next question was seemingly redundant, although he had heard of prodigies who beat their first gym in under a week. It was asking how many gym badges he had earnt, once again with a drop down option box. He clicked the number zero.

Finally, it asked him to place his Pokeballs in the tray below the screen. While he did this, the screen said "Smile for the camera." He looked at the screen and frowned. He didn't need to smile, he really didn't care. The camera flashed as the red beam from before scanned his Pokeballs. The screen said "Error, all Pokemon must be in Pokeballs." Gertrud looked at Blaze and frowned before jumping down and touching her Pokeball, letting herself be absorbed into the capsule. Amy looked at Blaze, curious as to why Gertrud had gone back into her Pokeball before following suit without need for prompting from her trainer.

Blaze got the machine to rescan the Pokeballs, and details for both Gertrud and Amy, were displayed on the screen. Above each of their species names, there was a blank box that could clearly have text entered. Blaze assumed that this was for the Pokemon's nicknames, so he entered Gertrud and Amy into each of their boxes respectively. The machine rescanned the Pokeballs, and a message saying "data saved" appeared on screen. He guessed that meant that the Battle Tent would save the data for each challenger so that it didn't need to ask the same questions repeatedly.

Persephone looked over at Blaze to see if he had finished with the process yet. He nodded before releasing Gertrud and Amy from their Pokeballs again. Amy spun around, happy to be out again. Gertrud just jumped back on Blaze's shoulder.

_So, I guess we just wait for an announcement. I'm not going to be surprised if it takes a while for the system to find suitable trainer matches unless they decided to pair you two._ Blaze and Persephone worried at the thought. Both of them didn't really want to face the other at the moment.

"Yea, I guess we wai-"

"_Will Blaze Ishida and Hextilda MacCoarson please come to the main lobby, your match is about to start."_ The announcement came over the loud speaker. Blaze looked over at the reception desk, which was clearly visible from any section of the building. He saw none other than that tall, creepy looking girl walking up to it.

"Oh Arceus please no!" Blaze's hand was covering his right eye, something he did when he was really nervous. "No, please, no!"

"Blaze, go on, you're up." Persephone couldn't see the issue. Blaze hadn't told her that this girl that he was about to fight in a Pokemon Battle was scaring him. Persephone gave him a slight push and against his own will Blaze's feet started moving towards the reception desk.

When he reached the desk he practically whispered to the Receptionist. "I'm Blaze Ishida, I'm here for the battle." He was shivering from how nervous he was. He couldn't stand the fact that of all people in here, he was facing that girl.

The receptionist pushed a button and the door to the main battle floor opened. He walked through, cursing his own luck. How ironic that the receptionist had just wished him good luck before he went in.

On the other side of the battlefield, there was the girl, her Zorua still standing on her shoulder. She grinned at Blaze, somewhere between a happy and slasher grin. "So, you're my challenger? Well, you don't look so good."

Blaze wasn't sure if she was referring to the fact that he was shaking to the point where it almost looked like he was twitching, or that she could somehow tell that this was his first battle. He was thinking the worst from this girl though.

"Well, my name is Hextilda, which I would assume you would already know from that announcement. I plan on becoming the future leader of the dark type gym in Hearthome. Anyway, you must be Blaze Ishida, it's nice to meet you." The girl spoke in a weird mix between condescending and friendly. She pulled out a top hat with a few bite marks and put it on.

Blaze spoke to Gertrud, who was still on his shoulder for the moment. Amy was floating around his shoulder, sizing up her trainer's opponent. The Flabébé flew over to Hextilda and gave her the most menacing stare that could come from such a tiny Pokemon.

"Not much of a talker, are you? Well, I admire your Flabébé, she has spiri-"

_I apologize for Blaze, he is extremely nervous and it seems your appearance has scared him speechless. _Hextilda acted shocked, but not as shocked as Gertrud had expected. Amy flew back over to Blaze as Hextilda spoke.

"Hmm, so you have a Pokemon who can use telepathic communication as well. Zufi here is telepathic as well, so I'm used to it." Hextilda smiled at her foe. "Well, I guess that's something we have in common.

The announcer of the match spoke into the microphone that was right in front of him on the desk. "Will the two of the challengers please get the battle underway?"

"Fine, fine. I may as well crush my competition as fast as possible." Hextilda gave that joy crossed slasher smile once again. "And I think I'll go with a double battle this time around, just for the fun of it. Go, Sienna and Inditius."

A small green rock type Pokemon and a purple bug like Pokemon appeared from the Pokeballs. There was one more Pokeball strapped to Hextilda's belt. "We'll go for a 2-v-2 battle. I won't use this one here." On the screen, there was a picture of a Larvitar and a question mark on the place of what should have been a Skorupi.

"What the hell…" Blaze looked at the screen. There was something weird going on. He had read about this from something, but he wasn't very sure exactly what it was. He gathered up the courage to speak. "I'll be using Amy and Gertrud, my Flabébé and Roselia." Gertrud jumped off his shoulder and onto the battlefield. Amy floated in the air next to the Roselia.

The Zorua on Hextilda's shoulder transformed into Gertrud and smiled. _Well, good luck to you Blaze, and you two Gertrud._ Blaze chuckled at the Zorua.

"Well, I guess I'll have the first move. Gertrud, use Growth, and Amy use Lucky Chant." A white light surrounded Gertrud's body, which she absorbed, breathing in. Amy sang and physical rings of music notes appeared and surrounded Gertrud and Amy like a shield.

Hextilda looked at Zufi the Zorua, who had changed back to normal. "Well then, I guess we're up. Sienna, Nasty Plot, Inditius, whip up a Sandstorm." Sand came from the Larvitar's backside, covering the whole battlefield and the stands with swirling sands. Meanwhile, the Skorupi seemed to be grinning maniacally about something.

Why would a Skorupi be doing something to raise its Special Attack, when Skorupis specialized in Physical attacks and defences. In fact, he was quite sure that Skorupis couldn't learn Nasty Plot. There was something wrong here.

Zufi transformed again, this time into an almost perfect replica of Persephone, who Blaze noticed was in the stands cheering him on. The only issue was that Zufi's replica had a Zorua's tail. Persephone was giggling, with Zufi grinning at the girl she had transformed into.

That was it! "Amy, use Vine Whip on Sienna, then I want you to intercept her attacks." Flabébés were great at taking special attacks, and while he didn't want to put Amy in harm's way, she was more likely to take the hits than Gertrud. Plus, Gertrud would be better focusing on Inditius the Larvitar.

Amy turned and nodded at her trainer. "Flabé" she said in acknowledgment. A vine grew out from the Flabébé's orange flower which quickly rushed towards the Skorupi. The Skorupi jumped out of the way, but Amy managed to swing the vine rapidly to hit her foe. While this was happening, he told Gertrud to line up a Poison Sting. The Skorupi's body flickered slightly, the Pokemon focusing on something else, not noticing the poisoned barb that was coming straight for her.

The barb stuck right in the Pokemon's side and its form shimmered. As its illusion broke, Sienna the Zoroark gave a growl. "Well Blaze, I'm surprised that this is your first battle. You seem to handle both Gertrud and Amy quite well, and their aim in a Sandstorm is quite exceptional. I'm still not going easy on you."

"Arceus, you sound like Cecil when he is in the middle of a battle." To Blaze's surprise, he wasn't nervous anymore. He was actually enjoying himself. "Well, you did say you had aspirations to be a gym leader, so I guess the fact that you sound like him isn't a bad thing."

"Anyway, let's go at this. Sienna, use Flamethrower on Amy! Inditius, attack Gertrud with Bite!" Sienna formed a mass of fire in her mouth while Inditius charged straight towards Gertrud. A stream of fire came out of Sienna's mouth, headed straight for the Flabébé. Amy manipulated the wind to dull the fire, but it was not enough to stop fire from slamming into her, albeit with about half the original power.

Gertrud was trying to outmanoeuvre Inditius's jaw, but due to the Sandstorm, her visibility was down. Unable to react as fast as usual, the Larvitar was able to clamp down on her arm. Gertrud gritted her teeth trying to resist making a slight sound from the bite. Blaze was trying to think of something quickly. Sienna's attacks were clearly powerful, and Inditius was enhanced by the Sandstorm.

He was backed right into a corner. Damn it, what was he going to do now…

**Thank you to Derahex on Lake Valor for submitting the character of Hextilda. I found it fun trying to interpret her character, and I tried to make her seem intimidating and fun at the same character. Hopefully I should be able to get Persephone's battle started up next chapter.**


	4. A Dark Encounter

A Dark Encounter

Blaze was trying to read the situation, but he was struggling to find any way to take back the lead in this match. Hextilda's Zoroark seemed to have been used to fighting in a sandstorm, and the Larvitar's typing was buffed by the Sandstorm that was going on. He was pushing his hands through his hair in frustration, completely unsure of what to do.

_Blaze, I suggest we double team the Zoroark first off. Growth will increase my special attack and if Amy uses Fairy Wind we can whittle away its health over time. I'll tell you if I need to use Mega Drain, but once I'm buffed enough we switch to poisoning Inditius. Then I'll focus Zoroark, and I'll tank the attacks for Amy unless it is a Flamethrower._

"Amy, you got that?" Blaze spoke through the Sandstorm, enough for the Flabébé to hear through the roaring sand, but not so much that Hextilda could hear over the other side of the arena. She didn't need to know that Gertrud was calling strategies as well.

"Alright, Gertrud, you use Growth. Amy, Fairy Wind on Sienna. We should be able to do this." Through the sandstorm, Gertrud turned around and the two of them smiled at each other. This was going to work.

Up in the stands, a glass barricade had gone across the top of the battle so that the spectators didn't get annoyed by the change in weather. For the convenience of the spectators, a split screen was showing both sides of the battlefield, with Blaze, Hextilda and their Pokémon clearly visible.

Persephone was cheering for Blaze. Certainly he couldn't hear her through the glass and sandstorm, but she knew that he had just gotten much more confident. Gertrud and him must've thought of something, but she didn't know. When they were this in sync, Gertrud wouldn't let anyone but Blaze and whoever needs to hear it. She was feeling a bit left out.

There was another girl who had pulled up next to her. She had decided to come and watch this battle as well for some reason. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be Persephone, would you?" The girl spoke to her. She had her hair dyed blue and a frilly dress that made her look about three years younger than she likely was.

"Yea, why?" Persephone looked at the girl, curious about why she was suddenly so interested in her.

The girl grinned back at Persephone. "Well, my name is Florent Chapuis. We are opponents after these two. I look forward to battling." The girl named Florent walked over to the other side of the stands, still grinning at Persephone.

Persephone looked back at the screen and saw a rock flying towards Gertrud. The Roselia was crossing her arms, trying to reduce the amount of force the rock would have on her body. It didn't do much good as the rock sent her flying into the wall behind.

"Damn, Gertrud, are you alright." Blaze screamed out to his partner Pokémon. She closed the rose on her right hand up for all except one on the outside to make and almost thumbs up sign. "Good, keep using Growth."

_I'm almost at my limit for that, we should probably switch up_. Blaze nodded to Gertrud.

"Alright then, Gertrud, Poison Sting on Inditius."

_My pleasure._ The Roselia jumped as hard as it could up onto Blaze's shoulder. It just managed to reach his shoulder. Gertrud than propelled herself at the Larvitar. The Sandstorm was dying down now so it was a lot easier for Gertrud to aim her strike.

A small barb poked out of Gertrud's right flower. She was starting to decelerate slightly, but she was still at a high enough speed that the barb should pierce its rock hide. The Larvitar was prepared to block it, but as Inditius went to swipe Gertrud's hand out of the way, she pulled it back, then jabbed it forward again when she was in close range. A direct strike, Inditius was almost certainly poisoned.

The Sandstorm cleared up and Blaze could see the whole field again. The glass over the field lifted up and he could hear Persephone cheering for him. He let a smile creep over his face, he might really have a chance to pull this off.

Over the other side of the field, Hextilda was looking at her Pokémon with worry. Even if she hadn't seen the strike that hit Inditius, the way the Larvitar was clutching his chest, she could tell Inditius had been poisoned. Sienna was doing better, but given that Inditius was soon going to be on his last legs.

She called out to her Pokémon. "Sienna, Flamethrower again on Amy, Inditius, Rock Throw on the same target." The Zoroark nodded and spewed flames from its mouth at Amy. The little Flabébé tried to make it die down with Fairy Wind, but just as she was about to use the move, a rock came flying right at her and hit her. Amy lost concentration and the flames surrounded her.

"Amy! Are you all right!" He could hear the Flabébé little cry, she sounded like she was just about done. Inditius was looking like he was just about done to. As the flames died down, Amy was breathing heavily. She was pretty much done, any more and she'd be knocked out.

"Amy the Flabébé is unable to continue the battle, please return her to her Pokeball." The announcer spoke over the speakers. Blaze did as he was told. "Remember, in an actual battle, Pokémon will continue until they have been knocked out."

Blaze nodded to the announcer and put Amy's Pokeball at his belt. "Damn it, I'm so sorry Amy." He sighed before looking back at the battlefield. "Gertrud, Inditius is on his last legs. Use Mega Drain."

Gertrud shot a vine at Inditius and wrapped around the Larvitar's chest. It started glowing as it sapped energy from Inditius and healed Gertrud. As soon as the vine retracted itself, Inditius fell down, completely unconscious.

"Inditus the Larvitar is unable to battle. The battle is now one on one." Hextilda returned her Pokémon to its Pokeball and grinned.

"This is where it gets interesting. Let's see who comes out on top, Gertrud or Sienna." She looked at Zufi and nodded. "All right, Sienna, use Hidden Power!" The Zoroark roared and balls of steel appeared around him. Sienna pushed her arms out towards Gertrud and the metal balls slammed into her.

Gertrud grinned. She looked like she was getting pumped up. _This is starting to get fun_. Gertrud ran straight for Sienna and jumped up on the Zoroark's shoulder.

"Gertrud, Poison sting, now!" The barb shot out of Gertrud's rose as if it were an assassin's blade. She jabbed the barb into Sienna's shoulder. The boosts from Growth made the Zoroark take much more damage than in normally would. Sienna didn't get poisoned by the attack though.

"Hah, you're going to lose this. Sienna, shake off Gertrud and use Extrasensory." The Zoroark shook back and forth like a wet Stoutland, eventually sending the Roselia flying into a wall. Then the Zoroark moved her arms as if she was crushing something.

Gertrud's face was in visible pain. The attack was doing a large amount of damage to Gertrud, especially due to her Poison typing. Even through the pain though, there was a slight grin. Blaze was her trainer, she had confidence that the two of them would be able to pull through. And now she had a chance to fight back.

"All right, Gertrud. Use Mega Drain." A vine shot out of the Roselia's right rose hand and wrapped around Sienna's neck. It started glowing just like it had prior and Gertrud breathed a sigh of relief. The Zoroark was powerful, but the fact the Gertrud had gotten up enough Growth with Amy tanking blows meant she could fight at about the same amount of power.

Before Sienna even got a command from her owner, she started charging at Gertrud for a close range Flamethrower. Hextilda clearly saw what Sienna was planning and she called out the move as if it had been her telling the Zoroark what to do. "Sienna, Flamethrower."

With very little time to react, Gertrud was just barely able to avoid, but she wasn't able to get on of her arms out of the way in time. The Roselia winced in the pain, but quickly got back into the swing of the battle, the attack leaving no secondary effects. Blaze and the Roselia both knew that if Sienna was able to force a burn or a flinch, then this battle would be over in an instant.

_Blaze, the Zoroark is an experienced battler, she seems to be able to start up a move before he trainer calls it out._ Blaze nodded at Gertrud before responding out loud.

"Well then, that just means we have to be on our toes just a bit more. Use Poison Sting, see if we can turn the tide of this battle." There wasn't a great likelihood of Sienna getting poisoned from this attack. Even though he had read that the attack poisoned around 30% of the time, he doubted that Gertrud would be powerful enough to cause the Zoraork to be poisoned.

Hextilda clearly didn't have this same idea, she commanded her Zoroark to get out of the way of the attack. She failed to notice that Gertrud hadn't launched herself like the last two time Poison Sting had been used. As Sienna started giving a sly grin, thinking the attack was going to miss, she looked over at where the Roselia should have ended up based on what she had witnessed of the battle, and was caught by surprise when Gertrud had stabbed her in the shoulder.

The Zoroark gave the grass Pokémon a malicious grin as it opened its mouth, preparing for a flamethrower. Hextilda called out the move as soon as she saw Sienna's intentions and this time it was a much more direct hit. The Roselia was practically coated in the fire this time. She tried to hold in her little scream this time and was panting at the amount of damage she had taken.

And this time there was a clear indication of a burn. There were scorch marks on Gertrud's back as well as on both of her hands. Well, Poison Sting was now out of the question, Gertrud wouldn't be able to do anything with her hands. Extrasensory wouldn't work on a Dark Type and repeatedly using Giga Drain, the Zoroark would eventually dodge it.

That was their only choice though.

"Alright, Gertrud, Giga Drain is our only choice now. I don't like our chances, but let's do this!" Hextilda and her Zoroark both gave a malicious grin. They knew this battle was over.

"As soon as the Giga Drain connect, use Flamethrower on the Roselia, got it Sienna." The Zoroark barked it's recognition before turning back toward Gertrud. The thorny whip had already shot towards Sienna before Gertrud realised she had fallen into a trap. It wrapped around the Zoroark as the Dark type created flames in the back of her mouth once again and shot them towards the little grass type.

Gertrud's Hp was staying at almost the same level, the energy being restored by Giga drain replenishing the Hp loss from the Flamethrower. Blaze was watching, knowing that the Giga Drain would run out before the Flamethrowe-

"Gertrud the Roselia is currently unable to battle. The winner of this battle is Hextilda and Sienna the Zoroark." Before Blaze had been able to finish his thought, Gertrud had been knocked out by the Flamethrower. Blaze rushed over to the Roselia that was lying on the floor and pulled out a faded yellow crystal and put it into Gertrud's mouth.

"I guess the battle has just burnt out." Zufi the Zorua rolled her little eyes at her trainer's bad joke. There was always a joke after battle. ALWAYS! Sometimes they were good, most of the time they are not.

Gertrud's eye's fluttered open as the effect of the Revive kicked in. Gertrud smiled before wincing at the lingering pain from her wounds. _Sorry Blaze, I couldn't pull it off._

"Don't worry Gertrud, we both knew this was a losing battle." The Roselia giggled slightly before walking sluggishly over to Sienna and her trainer.

_Good match both of you. I hope that Blaze, Amy and I put up a decent enough fight for you._ Both Hextilda and Zoraork started laughing, less menacingly than they had acted during the fight. Even the Zorua on Hextilda's shoulder was giggling through telepathy.

"Don't be so formal about it. I enjoyed it. What about you Sienna?" The Zoraork nodded before rubbing the Roselia's head.

_Hey, stop, that tickles._ The Roselia spoke to everyone in the arena. There was a chorus of laughing through the match arena.

As Blaze and Hextilda walked forward to shake hands after the match, Persephone rushed into the room. She almost crashed into Blaze as she came to a stop.

"I'm going to assume you two know each other?" Hextilda looked at the newcomer to the arena quizzically.

Persephone nodded and smiled. "Yea, we've been friends for a long time. I'm probably his only friend… Oh yea, my name is Persephone."

Blaze was glad that he and Hextilda had just finished shaking hands, Persephone's comment turned him back into his shrinking violet personality. He probably would've appeared rude. "Damn it Persephone, don't say things like that in public. It's gonna make me look bad." Blaze was almost inaudibly mumbling now.

Persephone only just realised that she had probably screwed up saying she was Blaze's 'only friend'. "Oops, I didn't mean it like that Blaze."

Hextilda looked at the duo with mild confusion. They were practically complete opposites, yet somehow they were friends. Sometimes she didn't understand people.

"Hey, if you want, maybe we could keep in touch. I'd like to battle you again at some point Blaze, and you to Persephone." Hextilda was about to leave before she realised she hadn't gotten anyway to keep in contact with the two of them. "So… what do the two of you have for communication? XTrnceiver, PokéGear, Pokétch"

Persephone quickly got out her XTransceiver and pulled up her number. "Here you go, and I've got Blaze's number in here as well." After Hextilda had copied the two numbers down into the notes on her Pokétch she held out her hand once more to Blaze.

"Well, it certainly was a good match. I hope we can have a good battle the next time we meet as well. Who knows, the next time we meet I could've taken over from Zen Darkwing at the Hearthome City gym." Persephone giggled at the thought of Hextilda as a gym leader.

Blaze smiled slightly before returning Hextilda's handshake. "Yea, although I'm doubtful that you're going to make it to gym leader that fast." His hair was covering one of his eyes, but he had looked back up at Hextilda. Persephone was looking awfully proud of Blaze.

Hextilda left the Pokémon field with a slight chuckle, waving at the two trainers before Persephone looked back up into the bleachers. She was looking for the girl who had been sitting next to her during Blaze and Hextilda's match.

"Hmm, where is that weird girl? I could've sworn we had a match together after Blaze… Whe-"

"Behind you." Persephone jumped. The frilly dress of the girl suddenly seemed ominous. Where the hell had she come from? "So, is this going to be a singles or doubles battle?"

Persephone looked down at her belt and frowned. She wanted to do a double battle, but she didn't have the same mind for strategy as Blaze did. To add to that, her two Pokémon didn't seem to like each other anyway.

"I think I'll have to go singles for this. My Pokémon don't seem to like each other very much." Florent gave a cute smile that gave Persephone chills. There was something off about this girl. Hextilda had been different, her appearance was frightening, but she seemed to have a really friendly personality. This girl was something different.

Persephone had read something a trend going around the Unova region where little girls who were… not quite right mentally… would dress up as little fairy tale girls and train fairy type Pokémon, often tending to scare the trainers they battle against. Florent suddenly seemed to exhibit that personality.

"Alright, do you want to go first or should I?" Florent asked, clasping both hands behind herself.

Persephone did her best to hide her slight twinge of fear on her face at this girl. Everything she did was just, too cutesy. "Karp or Ball, you call."

Persephone flicked her Pokétch to the Magicoin app and tapped the screen as Florent called Karp. He coin landed with a picture of a Magikarp face up, so the other girl would have made the first move. She looked up at the bleachers to see if Blaze was up there yet. She was surprised that Hextilda had stuck around to watch her fight as well.

Persephone smiled, poking the tip of her tongue out the side of her mouth. Hextilda waved back while Blaze gave his weird two fingered half salute which meant either goodbye or good luck depending on the situation.

"Go Snover." Florent sent the little snowman-like Pokémon onto the battlefield as its awkward looking legs sort of stumbled around. Once it got its footing, a hailstorm started up on the battlefield. Since the glass only covered the arena when a sandstorm was in play, the arena stayed uncovered and some of the hail was ending up in the bleachers.

Blaze get hit by a tiny piece and tried not to make the quick jolt of pain audible. Both Persephone's Pokémon were probably at a disadvantage here, since Spiny was weak to ice and Laxus would probably charge right though the damaging weather to attack and knock itself out without thinking.

Who was she going to pi-

"Go Laxus!" Persephone sent out her hyper little Shinx, and it instantly locked onto the fight that was in front of it.

"Shi-shinx." The electric lion cub was trying to intimidate its opponent with a little growl. It didn't do much, especially since the Shinx was not naturally inclined for intimidation.

Florent made a little squee sound. "Daww, Luxrays are so cute." Persephone was a bit surprised by the girl's reaction. Cool, Badass, Epic. Those were words that Persephone would associate with a Luxray. Cute… Not one of them.

She was about to voice her opinion to the girl before a weird glint in her eye told her not to. "Well, for now Laxus is a Shinx, so you just have to deal with it." Florent looked slightly peeved, but ignored the comment.

"So, you gonna start the match?" Persephone folded both her hands behind her head, waiting for Florent to make the first move.

Up in the bleachers, Blaze was quickly checking what Snover's moveset was. Powder Snow, Icy Wind, Razor Leaf and Protect. From what he saw, he guessed that Florent probably was a newbie and got the TM for protect because it would stop her Pokémon from getting hurt. He got the feeling she would probably abuse this move to make sure her Pokémon weren't hurt rather than those stall based idiots he sometimes watched in the Pokémon League matches.

Blaze tapped on Hextilda's shoulder to get her attention. "What would you do with this?"

The dark type trainer shrugged while thinking for a second. "Well, wish that my Pokémon was a dark type, then use Protect and see what Persephone attacked with first." Blaze noticed that Hextilda didn't seem as intimidating all of a sudden, even with her kind of pointy and dark theme with her clothing. She was quite friendly and she seemed to be into strategy like him. Maybe she would've made a good gym leader after all.

"I probably agree with you. With some background info on Laxus though, I know that the Shinx is going to ignore Persephone completely and go for a Spark." Hextilda smiled at the thought of seeing a rebellious Pokémon.

"I wish Luxrays were officially a dark type. I would train them if they were, they are so cool."

"Just cause you want to be the new Dark gym leader doesn't mean you have to exclusively train Pokémon that are Dark types, right? You could have a few other Pokémon that you like as well for fun battles?"

Hextilda shrugged. It was a really weird action to see with the pointed shoulders of her suit, kinda out of place. She stroked Zufi the Zorua as she spoke. "Dark types are my favourite though. They're misrepresented, that's what I like about them."

Back on the battlefield, Hextilda and Blaze's predictions both came true. Florent called out for Snover to use Protect while Laxus ignored Persephone's order to use Charge and used Spark instead, ramming into the protective barrier with full force thinking he could break it down.

Out of the corner of her eye, Persephone could've sworn she saw Gertrud on Blaze's shoulder facepalming… or, faceflowering… She wasn't sure. Either way, everyone agreed. Laxus was an idiot.

"Alright Laxus, use Roar. Let's see what her other Pokemon is." This time, the Shinx used Charge and built up electrical energy inside its fur. Persephone grew angry with the Pokémon. "Arceus damn it Laxus."

Florent looked quizzically at Persephone and Laxus. "You and your Pokémon have an interesting relationship. You'll never beat my cuties like that though."

Persephone was right, Florent was one of those weird girls. The emphasis on cute Pokémon practically confirmed it.

"Well, your move. And you realise that overuse of Protect wears down the barrier so it can fail, right?" Florent looked confused, as if she expected her Pokémon to be safe forever. She watched as pieces of hail fell onto the Shinx's forehead, leaving little scratch marks on the Pokémon and leaving damage.

Persephone saw them too, but was glad when she saw that Laxus had taken the initiative to hit the Snover with a tackle. The Protect Barrier was down due to overuse, so the Shinx was able to send the snowman Pokémon flying. There was a slight boost as well from Charge as well, but if this kept up, Laxus would faint from Hail damage before the Snover would be defeated. This Protect would be really annoying, as would be Laxus' inability to read situations. And Spiny would be weak to Snover in every way, which would be a problem.

Persephone thought over her situation. What would Blaze have tried to do in this battle? Probably try and convince Laxus to listen to her and force a switch with Roar if that ever happened. The problem was that Florent was going to keep using Protect. Even she wouldn't be able to predict when Protect would fai-

"Alright little Snover, use Powder Snow." As Florent called for her Pokémon's next attack, Persephone was caught off guard. She didn't expect the girl to switch to attacking moves any time soon. The hail around Laxus suddenly softened and blow towards him. While the snow wasn't very damaging in itself, the cold that Laxus would be feeling would definitely hurt.

"Hang in there Laxus!" The Shinx made a response that sounded almost condescending. "Arceus why would you give me such a pain in the ass as my first Pokémon?" Once again another condescending noise from the Shinx, this time slightly stuttered from the Powder Snow attack.

"Laxus, use Charge. Let's see what it does." The Shinx rolled its eyes and instead charged for Snover while coating electricity. It was using Spark instead. Why wouldn't the Shinx listen to her?

"I don't know why her Shinx does that. It got into a fight with a wild Sandshrew and wouldn't listen to her either." Blaze was half talking to himself, half to Hextilda. The dark type trainer had about as much of an idea about it as he did.

"Maybe Laxus is just overly strong willed and sees Persephone as weak." Both trainers saw the Shinx hit the Snover for next to nothing as Hail constantly pelted it. At this rate, Spiny probably had a better chance of winning.

Without Persephone even calling out a move, Laxus was once again charging at Florent's Snover with a Spark attack. Persephone felt like giving up this battle then and there. Laxus wasn't going to listen to her.

Florent called out for her Snover to use a Razor Leaf attack next, and leaves sprouted from Snover's body before breaking off and pelting Laxus. "What is wrong with your Pokémon? Don't you give your little cutie enough attention?"

Persephone had both hands covering her face now out of sheer embarrassment. Blaze had just pulled off a battle so well against Hextilda, even though he ultimately lost. She didn't even have a Pokémon willing to fight for her that wouldn't get creamed in one hit. Maybe if she weren't up against this Snover, Spiny would be useful.

"Snover, use Icy Wind to slow her Shinx down and then use Protect before the silly adorable thing attacks again." The Snover nodded at Florent and turned back towards Laxus. It moved its arms forward and the hail once again shifted form. This time is broke apart and blew past Laxus. The temperature of the wind caused frost to build up on Laxus' legs and slow him down.

Just as Florent said it would, Laxus came charging back at the Snover. However, the decreased speed due to Icy Wind allowed the Snover to form the barrier before Laxus could connect another Spark, not that it would have done very much.

"I surrender." Persephone said without a second thought. "I can't continue this battle, I have no way of succeeding." Laxus started charging for Florent's Snover for a final time as Persephone recalled the Shinx back into its Pokéball.

Florent looked disappointed. "Aww, and I was just starting to have fun. Oh well, maybe I'll face you again, and I'll get to show you my other cuties as well." She recalled Snover before skipping out of the arena.

Persephone still couldn't get over how creepy that girl was.

Blaze ran down to his friend, Hextilda following behind, curious to see what would happen. "Persephone, it's okay. Surrendering a losing fight is perfectly fine."

Persephone's eyes were tearing up. "I don't want to have to surrender every battle because Laxus is not listening to me! Arceus damn it why did I pick out such an idiot of a Pokémon!"

Blaze turned around and gave Hextilda a wave goodbye. The dark trainer got the hint and left, returning Blaze's wave. "Don't worry about it Persephone, I'm sure Laxus won't be that bad after a few battles."

***whisles* Damn, this took a long time to write. I needed to find some way to actually make the battle go on for less than two sentences like most In-Game battles would.**

** Once again, credit to my friend Derahex on Lake Valor for Hextilda. I really hope I didn't go too far in her personality, I kinda interpreted as a mysterious but humourous person. If I went too far I'll try and tone it down in future chapters.**

** Also, PhunnyStuff, I hope you aren't creeped out by what I created from your description. I used the Fairy Tale Girls from the X/Y and ORAS games as a basis for personality. Yea…**

** Next chapter… not sure. Probably a bit of Blaze on his own after the two split up… Don't expect it too soon.**


	5. Goodbye, for now

Goodbye, for now.

None of the three travellers had expected this to be so difficult. Blaze and Persephone said that they would be perfectly fine with it when the time came around. Gertrud was confident in her abilities to keep Blaze from sitting in a corner and rolling on the floor in embarrassment or shyness.

But now Blaze and Persephone were struggling to go their separate ways. Amy and Spiny had also been released from their Pokéballs as well, Laxus was kept in just to keep him from causing trouble. Everyone was just looking at each other with a weird sorry look in their eyes. They had all started their journey together, and even the two newer Pokémon were having trouble separating from the other trainer.

"So, you were going to go up to Snowpoint and I was going to go to Hearthome. That was what we agreed, right Blaze." Persephone's voice had a heavy note of sadness.

Blaze was rubbing his arm awkwardly. "Yea, I think it was." He was uneasy about this. Part of it was that he would be separated from Persephone for the first time in a long time. He would have Gertrud though, Persephone only had Spiny and Laxus, the latter of whom was the biggest pain in the ass that Blaze had ever met. She wouldn't have any company on the road.

"I've got an idea, how about we go to Eterna City together. Then we can both face the gym there." Persephone's face brightened up at the idea before she saw that Blaze was shaking his head.

"The same thing will happen again and we'll keep putting it off. I'll video call you when Gertrud evolves so you can watch too, but I think we should split off from here." Persephone frowned but saw Blaze's logic.

The girl looked at the ground and kicked a bit of dirt out of the way, trying to avoid the situation. She had really been dreading this moment for the same reasons as Blaze. She would be alone and Blaze would at least have Gertrud, although that wouldn't be very much benefit on his end either.

"Okay… I gu-"

_Blaze, Persephone, I thought you two would have been off by now_. Persephone searched for the source of the telepathy and saw a Zorua grinning and running towards the two of them.

"Zufi, what are you doing here? Where is Hextilda?" Persephone cheered up slightly at the sight of the little fox Pokémon. Suddenly she had an idea. "Hextilda's planning on going down to Hearthome soon, right Zufi?"

The Zorua nodded before cocking her head quizzically. What was this girl planning?

"Why don't I travel with Hearthome City with Hextilda!" The sound of what seemed to be a telepathic facepalm resounded through the thoughts of everyone there.

As if by some the mention of her name had summoned her, Hextilda appeared behind Persephone. She put a finger up to her mouth to make sure he didn't alert Persephone of her presence. The boy noticed and nodded but said nothing.

"What, did Zufi or Gertrud say something to you and not me, or do you just normally nod at the air?" Persephone was still not aware of Hextilda's presence behind her, and both Blaze and his little Roselia had to stop themselves from laughing.

"So, what was this about the two of use traveling together?" Persephone practically jumped, making a high pitched squealing sound in her surprise. "I'm not completely opposed to the idea, but don't get clingy on me, I'm not like your friend here, I don't like clingy."

"Arceus damn it, you scared the life out of me Hextilda. And I promise that I won't got clingy. I'll split off after we both at least challenge the Hearthome gym, unless you weren't planning on doing that." Persephone tried to make a pleading action with her eyes, like a Purrlion.

Hextilda rolled her eyes in irritation. "Listen, I was going to accept the idea without the weird eye thing. Stop that, you just making it worse for yourself." Persephone smiled, absolutely grateful to the dark type trainer. "Is she always like this?"

Blaze looked down to the ground, trying to think of any way to say it without Persephone getting mad. He gave up. "Yes, yes she is like this a lot of the time."

"What have I gotten myself into?" The dark type trainer had a sullen look on her face, realising how much trouble Persephone was going to be for her. "How do you two put up with her?" Blaze and Gertrud both shrugged in unison.

_You get used to it after a while I guess._ Gertrud, looking anywhere but at Persephone, said to the group.

"You do realise I'm standing right here, right guys?" Persephone was starting to get annoyed with everyone talking so negatively about her right next to her. She folded her arms and started walking towards the south exit to Jubilife City. "You coming Hextilda?"

"You realise I'm doing this moreso for Blaze's sake. I don't think you realise how weird it would be if the two of you walked through Eterna Forest together." Persephone sniggered at the thought. Blaze blushed and hid his face from view.

Blaze adjusted his jacket before holding out his hand for Gertrud to climb on. Amy started floating around her trainer's fiery hair, cheering encouragement to Blaze. He smiled at the Flabébé before Gertrud settled on his shoulder.

"Alright, I-I'm off." Blaze's voice quivered as he left, half from the embarrassing idea of himself and Persephone walking through Eterna Forest together and the fact that he would be alone with only Gertrud and Amy by his side. Amy started rubbing her tiny pixie face against Blaze's cheek while Gertrud was leaning against her partner's face, looking back on Persephone and Hextilda. Blaze just kept looking down.

Persephone was waving goodbye to her friend when she noticed something. "Blaze, you're about to walk into that po- Nevermind." The other trainer was now rubbing his head walking away faster than before after crashing into a streetlamp. His cheeks were blushing even more from embarrassment, but thankful that his face was turned away from his friend.

"He really is a curious guy Persephone. Seriously, how did you two actually start communicating?"

Persephone grinned in satisfaction as she got to tell a story to someone who wouldn't stop her for once. Hextilda suddenly regretted the question, but was at least glad that Persephone's mind was off the idea of leaving for now.

"So, one thing I've found with Blaze is that if you pester him long enough, he gives up trying to ignore you. The first time I figured that out, I decided to try and break down his wall. Eventually enough pestering and he gave up even trying to ignore me at all and we actually got to know each other. He hasn't been too fond of me all the time, but we've become very tight." The girl smiled with satisfaction.

"I feel sorry for him, what about you Zufi?" Hextilda's Zorua nodded at her trainer. Hextilda knew this was going to go on for longer, that was just the short version. She was willing to take anything to make sure that Persephone noticed that she was not with Blaze anymore without any major repercussions.

_Hey, Floaroma Town is just ahead. You don't mind if we stop off there, Amy wants to hang out among the flowers._ Gertrud was still on Blaze's shoulders as the two of them walked towards the Ravaged Path that Route 204 was known for.

Blaze smiled at the thought. "Make sure you chaperone Amy, okay. With her size she could get lost amongst the flowers and we'd never find her again. I hope she doesn't outgrow that playful personality when she evolves." Amy was twirling around, once again manipulating the wind to push her in circles around her trainer's head.

"Flabé" Amy sounded excited at the idea. So many flowers in such a small space. It would be like heaven for a Pokémon who was always around flowers.

"So, the book said that Flabébés will choose a flower that it likes before protecting it for the rest of its life." Gertrud nodded while Amy continued to float around aimlessly. "How does the Flabébé find its flower in the first place and what if the flower types aren't abundant in the area that it chooses."

Gertrud shrugged, not knowing enough about the nature of most other Pokémon's lives to know many species' bizarre behaviours. _Maybe its parent will travel around with it until they find at least some flower. I've noticed that Amy's flower isn't very nice looking though. Probably wasn't a great patch of flowers._

Blaze hadn't paid all that much attention to Amy's flower, mainly because he didn't want to offend his Pokémon. The flower did look slightly poor of health though, some edges looked wilted.

"Maybe we can find a cute new flower for her in Floaroma Town. She would like that, and maybe she'd be stronger for it, although she never seems to be out of energy when she's playing." As if on cue the little flower pixie did a backflip in the air.

Blaze and Gertrud both just looked at the little pixie, smiling at her playfulness. They were both glad to have Amy on this trip. She was able to lighten up almost any mood.

"_Well, I guess we'll find out when we get the-_"

"Hey, you. Do you want to battle? Parading your Pokémon around like that is practically asking for one." Gertrud's thought was cut off by a voice from nowhere. Suddenly, the notice that there was people nearby made Blaze's gaze return once again to the ground.

"Seriously, guy with the Roselia and Flabébé. I challenge you!" The boy sounded slightly irritated by now. "I've just started my journey, so we should be an even match.

Blaze mumbled under his breath. "Please, no, I don't need to talk to anyone. I can do this with as few interactions as possible." Gertrud was trying to shift Blaze's attention to the trainer who was challenging him.

"I think even your Pokémon wants to battle." Blaze decided to turn around and had a look at Amy, and inevitably, the trainer who was challenging him. It was one of those 10 year old trainers who thought a sideways baseball cap and shorts was "cool." So many 10 year olds… So many…

Amy was floating around the boy's head, glancing menacingly while occasionally sticking out her tiny tongue. Blaze started giggling. "You know what, sure. I'll accept on behalf of my Pokémon." He glared quickly at Amy and whispered, "Doesn't mean I have to enjoy it."

Blaze nodded Amy, who flew back over to him eagerly. The Flabébé tapped her head to her Pokéball and was absorbed inside it with a flash of red light.

_Smart little thing, isn't she_. Gertrud smiled while their opponent looked around wildly for the source of that noise.

"Gertrud here has telepathy in case you were wondering." Blaze motioned towards his Roselia, who was still standing on his shoulder. The other boy just looked confused, having no idea what telepathy was. "Basically she can speak directly to your mind." The other boy looked less confused, but still confused none the less. "What's you name anyway?"

"It's Mark." The boy grinned and then turned his blue cap back. "And how about we begin this battle now, I'm getting impatient. Bidoof, I choose you."

Blaze had to hold back his laughter and the little beaver Pokémon. The official entry said it was a mouse Pokémon, but he though it looked like the general idea of a beaver. Not only did it look stupid, but it was a bad Pokémon in itself. Then again, this kid did say he had just started his journey.

"Alright, Amy, we'll start with you then." He send the Flabébé out of her Pokéball, the little pixie being a bit groggy. "Were you trying to take a nap in there?" Amy nodded, Blaze sighed.

"What is that thing anyway?" Mark looked confused once again. This was probably his first time seeing both of his Pokemon, especially Flabébés. The boy got out his PokéDex and searched up what Amy was.

_Flabébé_

_The Single Bloom Pokemon._

_Flabébé chooses a favourite flower at the beginning of its life and takes care of it from then on._

"That's so girly, why would you choose a Pokémon like that mister?" Blaze sighed. He knew he would get this reaction from some kids.

He didn't respond very loudly, only so that Gertrud and Amy would hear. "First of all, I'm only 14, so how and I mister? Second I choose my Pokémon for how interesting and friendly they are." Amy smiled at him while Mark just looked at him, wondering what Blaze was saying to himself.

Blaze turned on his Pokétch and scrolled through the options. He got to the Magikarp coin flip and tilted his head to tap Gertrud so he wouldn't have to talk again. _Karp or Ball, the winner makes the first move._

Almost instantly the boy replied. "Karp!" Blaze tapped the screen and the virtual coin tossed itself. It landed with a Magikarp face up.

_You win, you move first. _Mark looked straight at his Bidoof and called out the firt move of the match.

"Alright Bidoof, use Headbutt." The beaver mouse started to charge at Amy's little form. Blaze's Flabébé was already getting ready to dodge the attack.

"After you get out of the way, use Lucky Chant. Let's make sure we don't take any unnecessary risks in this battle." After Amy moved above the Bidoof, she began singing. Blaze listened intently. He hadn't really paid much attention to the pixie's singing in his battle with Hextilda, but it was surprisingly soothing compared to how some Pokémon used the move.

Blue musical notes streamed out from Amy's mouth as she sung, surrounding both herself and Gertrud. Blaze wasn't surprised, Gertrud was technically on Amy's team and the move affected the user's entire team.

"Hey, your other Pokemon isn't participating right now. Why is it getting a buff from the move? You're cheating." Blaze shook his head at the boy. He didn't have the time to explain how team based moves worked. "And your Pokemon is too high, Bidoof can't do anything about that."

"Alright, I'll give you that last one. Amy, keep close to the ground. Let's give this guy a fair fight, Bidoof won't be able to touch you if you're too far off the ground." Amy turned around at Blaze with a disappointed look. "You can still go left and right Amy, you're not just going to be stationary." This seemed to brighten the little pixie up a bit. She didn't like the idea of sitting still.

As Amy lowered herself to the ground, Mark took the opportunity to call out his next attack thinking that the Flabébé would be unprepared. "Alright, Bidoof, use Rollout!" The beaver mouse Pokémon curled into a ball and started rolling rapidly towards Amy.

"Move to the side and hit it with a Vine Whip Amy." Blaze commanded as the pixie Pokémon started to playfully taunt the oncoming opponent. Given Amy's small size, it was extraordinarily easy for her to avoid being clipped by any part of the attack.

Meanwhile, a vine was sprouting from one of the buds that formed a yellow ring around Amy's head. It moved towards the Bidoof at high speed before hitting the brown Pokémon. This didn't stop its rolling as it came in for another attack with Rollout, wanting to make sure not to miss. This time the move was coming faster and stronger.

"Amy, same again." The Flabébé was able to dodge, but the Bidoof's rollout missed only narrowly this time. "Make sure you don't stay still after this, keep moving to make sure you don't get hit." The pixie Pokémon nodded as a vine came out of the yellow buds around its head again. It launched straight towards Mark's Bidoof. It struck the Pokémon across the side as it continued rolling.

The Bidoof kept on rolling towards Amy, building up speed on each passing. The third and fourth time, Amy managed to dodge and punish with Vine Whip like before.

On the fifth attack though, the Biddof was rolling too fast for Amy to avoid on either side. She was about to use Fairy Wind to blow herself into the air, but Blaze said that the height advantage would be unfair on the Bidoof and Mark.

The little pixie Pokémon braced for the impact of the Bidoof. Blaze gritted his teeth, hoping the best for his Pokémon while Gertrud turned away. As the beaver mouse Pokémon made contact, Amy was sent flying through the air toward Blaze. The fiery-haired trainer caught his Pokémon in his hand.

"Hey, are you alright?" Blaze hoped that Amy wasn't too badly hurt, but that attack had done a huge amount of damage. Amy nodded, wincing slightly at the action before giving her trainer a strained smile. "I'm going to put Gertrud in now Amy, you watch from the sidelines."

The sidelines practically being Blaze's shoulder, Amy and Gertrud switched places. Blaze reached into his backpack and grabbed Gertrud's Big Root. The thorn Pokémon took it and wrapped it around her neck.

_Don't worry, I'll get him for you._ Gertrud winked at Amy before facing her opponent. She pulled her right flower in as if it was a fist and made a punching action. It didn't quite have the same impact it should've, but Gertrud was ready to fight.

"Alright, since we switched out, it's Mark's turn. Make sure you do everything you can to avoid his next attack, the Bidoof looks like he's on his last legs." Blaze was watching his opponent closely. The Pokémon was panting heavily and there seemed to be a bruise on its leg.

Mark didn't seem to notice the injuries on his own Pokémon. He just shouted at his Bidoof. "Let's do this, go and hit it with Headbutt."

The beaver mouse Pokémon charged, its head being covered by a white light.

Blaze thought of something that could end the battle there. "Gertrud, Extrasensory. Throw it." The Roselia's eyes began to glow with a gold light, the same light that surrounded the Bidoof as it was lifted off the ground mid charge.

"No fair!" Mark had never seen any sort of psychokenesis attack, so he didn't realise this was a standard attack. "That can't be allowed, your Pokémon isn't even touching mine."

Blaze and Gertrud both rolled their eyes almost in sync. Newbies would be a pain in the ass. Gertrud kept the majority of her concentration on getting the Bidoof into a position to throw for large damage. Since the Bidoof hadn't experienced psychokinesis before, it wouldn't know how to break free very fast, so she could take her time. She also enjoyed watching Mark whine about how unfair her attack was, so the longer she could mess around, the better.

"That's enough Gertrud, finish the attack." Amy looked disappointed, clearly enjoying her ally's little performance. She cheered up when she saw the faint traces of a smile on Blaze's face.

"Fla-Flabé"

Whatever Amy had said, Blaze was glad she said it after Gertrud threw the Bidoof, since the little rose Pokémon cracked into laughter. _Oh my god, is he really? Sucks that I couldn't see it._

Blaze instantly knew that Gertrud was talking about him. The smile was cleared off his face as Amy stared at him. None of the three noticed that Mark's Bidoof had been knocked out.

"Well, I guess you win." Mark was holding his Bidoof, worried about its safety. Blaze rummaged through his backpack for a spare Revive. He found a Potion, while he gave to Gertrud and told her to use it on Amy. Right at the bottom of his bag, he found a few of the orange crystals.

He took the item out of his bag and threw it to Mark. "Feed this to your Bidoof and he'll be fine." The trainer did what he was told and his Bidoof awoke from unconsciousness.

"Thanks, I guess I should probably give you a reward for winning. How does 240 Poké sound?" Blaze was about to refuse before Gertrud reminded him that it was common practice. He accepted the reward from the boy before both went their separate ways.

_See, that wasn't too bad, was it?_ Gertrud was back up on Blaze's shoulder, trying to be convincing.

"He was a bigger prick than a pissed off Primape." Blaze looked back and the distant figure of the boy in "Youngster" clothing. "But I guess there were moments that were fun. I think a few double battles would be fun though to."

_Yea, you'll have to tell people that, I'm not sending out battle requests for you_. Amy started laughing while Blaze just looked away. _Anyway, the Ravaged Path is just ahead. We are almost to Floaroma Town._

Suddenly Blaze shivered. "I just realised. Zubats. Zubats in dark caves. Everywhere." He had heard stories of trainers being swarmed by countless Zubats the moment they walked into a dark cave. It was a good thing he bought Repels.

On the outskirts of the cave, Blaze started to rummage through his bag to search for repels. He was almost certain that there were some when he left.

_Persephone put them in her bag, didn't she._ Blaze smacked his head against the wall of the cliff face. _Please tell me that we are going to go back to Jubilife City and get repels. Please._

"Sorry, but we're going to risk the Zubat swarm. We just need to stay quiet. Amy, that means Pokéball time for you." Amy nodded her understanding before pressing the button for her Pokéball.

_And here I was thinking that you would never have an irrational thought in your life. Oh how I was wrong._ Gertrud was overacting her annoyance at Blaze's decision. _What happened, you got hit by a Confuse Ray back there or something?_

Blaze stared daggers at the Roselia. "You realise that your telepathy will likely wake up Zubats just as easily as speech." Gertrud was sticking her tongue out at her trainer. She was just trying to irritate him. "Just, please, stop."

_Whatever you say boss, I'll be quiet._ Blaze was about to step into the cave when Gertrud's voice echoed in his head. _HEY ZUBATS, THIS KID FORGOT HIS REPELS. SWARM TIME!_

Blaze picked Gertrud oh his shoulder and positioned himself ready to throw the Rose Pokémon into the cave. "I know you didn't project that into the cave, but do that one more time and you can roam around in there while I go get repels."

_I'm just messing with you Blaze, it's a really small cave. Even if they do swarm we'll get out of there in no time._ Gertrud smiled at her trainer, who gently dropped her onto the ground.

Blaze began walking, speaking at almost a whisper at the entrance of the cave. "Well, you can walk. When you evolve you'll have to walk on your own. Seriously, you're being cheekier than a Chimchar." Gertrud walked behind her trainer, her scowl displaying her disappointment at her trainer's inability to get a joke.

_I think after we get to Floaroma Town, we should train Amy some more. She learns fast, so I think the three of us can find some interesting strategies._ Light footsteps echoed through the cave as Blaze tried to progress without disturbing anything. It was bright enough in the tunnel that Blaze could see in front of him. Gertrud's leafy feet barely made a sound across the floor, her face smug anytime Blaze looked back to check on her.

There was a whole lot more to the Ravaged Path than where Blaze and Gertrud were going. It was quite an expansive cave, but the quickest path was fairly short, and no one wanted to get swarmed by Zubats if they were trying to be quick. Blaze was unlucky forgetting his repels, otherwise he could make as much noise as he wanted and Zubats wouldn't come near him from the chemicals.

_We're almost there, just a few more metr-_ Gertrud's foot accidentally tripped over a Geodude. It rolled for a short amount of time before slamming into a wall with a thud.

The sound of unfurling wings echoed throughout the cave. Blaze quickly turned his head to see a bluish blob heading towards him rapidly. Without a second thought, he picked up his partner Pokémon and ran for the end of the tunnel.

"Damn it Gertrud! I thought you were being careful!"

_Hey, all these rocks look the same. And Geodudes are pretty much sentient rocks, and that one moved as I tried to step over it._ Both of them were in full sprint, trying to reach the end of the cave before the swarm can down on them.

Just as the dark blue swarm was about to descend on the trainer and Pokémon, they finally stepped into the light away from the Ravaged Path. The bat Pokémon, feeling the warmth of the world outside the cave, retreated back, having driven off their intruders.

_That was frightening. I didn't realise how fast Zubat could be._ Both Blaze and Gertrud looked at each other and sat down on the grass. Floaroma Town was in sight, the cliff that the Ravaged Path allowed easy climbing was in front of them. Blaze and Gertrud both looked at each other and laughed.

"We should get going. I'm sure Amy can't wait to see the flowers." The beautiful smell was already noticeable, and Gertrud looked ecstatic.

**Hooray, I crammed tons of random stuff into one chapter. I just wanted to get some stuff out of the way in this chapter, including the first trainer battle. I'm not sure how I'll progress between Persephone and Blaze from here, but the next chapter will definitely be the focus of the next one.**

**Also, I've just done a collab with another writer, Airenee. It takes place after Blaze has four badges, so he will have two Pokémon he doesn't have at the moment, but there isn't too much in terms of spoilers except for the ends of the collab. Anyway, I encourage you guys to read her fanfic "Shadows of the Night," it inspired me to write my own Pokéfic.**


	6. I screwed up

Hey to all those 5 or so people who read this. I recently posted the most recent chapter in my story, titled "Begrudging Partners". I had it completed... However, I don't know what happened to the file I meant to upload and instead I uploaded not only an incomplete version, but a version I had actually scrapped...

So, I don't know what happened, I thought I saved the correct chapter and uploaded it... I usually don't make this mistake, but I had the chapter I uploaded scraped and wrote a whole other chapter in it's place cause what I wrote was a more broken piece of mess than SAO.

I apologize for this major screw up, I had already started a new chapter before I noticed, so while the chapter was supposed to be about Persephone and Hextilda, I will be writing the next Blaze chapter before I rewrite the chapter i screwed up...

I apologize...


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